Updated at 2:54 p.m. Aug. 11 with a statement from WorkSafeBC.
A workplace accident seriously maimed an Ahousaht man last November when he was electrocuted while working on power lines at a lower mainland substation.
Taras Atleo, 44, was only six days into his new BC Hydro job when he was found unconscious, dangling from a power pole by his safety harness, his hands severely burned.
Lorena Atleo recalled the terrible day that her family was forever changed.
“It was Nov. 8, 2014 – a Saturday, that I got the call,” she remembered.
Her husband, Taras, had been working at a New Westminster substation.
“It was early in the morning and a social worker told me he was taken by ambulance to Royal Columbian Hospital and that he was in trauma; she said the doctors were trying to figure out what happened to him and that he was found that way,” said Lorena.
When she got to the hospital, Lorena found her husband comatose. They knew that he had been electrocuted but doctors didn’t know the full extent of his injuries.
“The first three days he had to be watched for any organ damage; his hands were burnt to the bone,” said Lorena.
Taras remained in a coma for about two weeks. The doctors did everything they could to save his hands but the damage was too great and it wasn’t long before they knew that both hands would have to be amputated.
“I felt like a zombie at that time,” said Lorena. She says she doesn’t have much memory of all that happened the first few weeks. The kids’ aunt Nancy came to stay with them the entire time Lorena stayed by her husband’s side.
“I’m so grateful to her for that,” she said.
About two weeks after the accident Lorena received a call from the hospital letting her know that they were removing Taras’ breathing tube because he had woken up.
“It was tough when he woke up,” she said. He wanted to know what had happened and why he was in the hospital. Lorena said she was in the hall talking to medical staff and could see Taras trying to get her attention by waving his legs. His voice was gone; he was hoarse from having had a breathing tube.
‘You sure are beautiful!’ were Taras’ first words to his wife. She laughed and asked if he knew who he was talking to. He answered that he knew she was his wife.
Then she had to tell him about his accident. “He doesn’t remember anything on the day of the accident but he remembers we had a date night at the movies the night before,” said Lorena.
Even more difficult, Lorena had to tell her husband that he was in an accident and his hands were so badly burned they would have to be amputated. “He closed his eyes tight,” she said. I told him that we were so happy that he was alive and we will focus on that. He took it like a trooper, she added.
Taras was eventually moved to the burn unit at Vancouver General Hospital where he began his recovery and started walking again. But care there was expensive and Work Safe BC had him transferred to a nursing home. “From the beginning I felt like it was the wrong place for him,” said Lorena. It was for dementia patients and it would be on lockdown for their safety. And there was only one registered nurse with limited skills for patients with injuries like Taras’ burns.
“I had to teach them how to shape (bandage) his stumps,” said Lorena, who learned how to care for her husband’s injuries at the burn unit.
Taras felt like he couldn’t leave his room at the nursing home and he became depressed. The family had the support of extended family, for which they are ever so grateful, but getting Taras home and getting the support he needs there has been an uphill struggle.
In order to get Taras home, the house needed modifications. Taras’ union paid for the installation of a bidet so that he could use the restroom more easily. BC Hydro paid to have all the door knobs changed to levers after Taras became trapped in a room, unable to work the door knob.
“We don’t realize just how much we need our hands until something like this happens,” said Lorena.
Krista, the couple’s 12-year-old daughter, recently wrote a letter that circulated on Facebook. In it, she tells how her father had been working in the electrical field for 20 years and how her father’s accident and injuries have changed their lives.
“They had to cut his hands and wrists off because they were dead,” she writes, but now he can’t do even the simplest things that we all take for granted.
“My dad can’t dress himself. He can’t zip zippers. He can’t open the lid to get the toothpaste out. He can’t open doors or windows. My dad used to cook all our meals, he used to fish and hunt. He can’t do these things anymore. He used to walk our dog. Now he can’t open his kennel or hold his leash. He used to take my sister and I bike riding and swimming. Now he can’t. He can’t drive his vehicle anymore. He can’t even put his seatbelt on,” she continued.
When Taras finally came home, Work Safe BC paid for an in-home support service called We Care. Lorena guesses the service costs about $5,000 per month. Through the service, caregivers were sent every day to the Atleo home where they provided care and assistance to Taras while his family was away at school and at work.
But the family received a troubling call from the Work Safe BC on May 29. “The worker said they would no longer provide the We Care service.
When I asked why, their only explanation was it is time,” said Lorena.
The call came on a Friday and We Care service was to be cut off the following Monday. “I have to work on Monday and the kids have to go to school. What am I going to do?” asked Lorena. She said she cried all weekend.
The family pleaded with Work Safe BC to reinstate the home care service and were eventually given a one-month extension, which took them to the end of June, when the kids would be finished school for the year.
Lorena said she was forced to give up her job so she could stay home to care for Taras. The children do everything they can to help. The Atleo’s have three children; Kwin, 15, Kyra, 13 and Krista,12. They also have their niece, Alexandra, age six, living with the family.
The kids have been through family health upsets before. Just over five years ago Lorena was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and was given an equally aggressive treatment. Her family came together to support her and one another during that time and she regained her health.
“Having to be caregivers changes the dynamic of the family,” said Lorena. She said she overheard her youngest daughter say that she wants to help her father as much as she can because she doesn’t want her mother to burn out.
“She said she didn’t want us to divorce,” said Lorena, choking back tears.
“I am really mad at Work Safe for not caring about my family,” Krista wrote in her letter.
As for Taras, Lorena said his frustration is growing.
“Sometimes he has to ask for help and sometimes he has to wait because the rest of us are busy with what we are already doing; I worry about his state of mind,” said Lorena.
According to Lorena, Taras worked on getting hooks for himself. They are the most basic of prosthetic hands and he would have liked to have gotten bionic hands but they’re expensive and not covered by Work Safe BC.
“They’re (Work Safe BC) like insurance companies. They want everyone to pay into it but they don’t want people to make claims. I think they’d like for us to just go away,” said Lorena.
The family has appealed Work Safe BC’s decision to cancel We Care services, but Lorena says their case likely won’t be heard until December, and even then, there could be delays.
Taras still receives an income roughly equivalent to his pay as a BC Hydro employee. Work Safe BC is paying the family about $1,300 a month to spend as they wish for Taras’ care. But $1,300 a month doesn’t cover Lorena’s lost wages or the $5,000 a month to pay for We Care services so she can go back to her job.
“We’ve been staying optimistic for the most part,” said Lorena. In a perfect world, she said she wouldn’t want the money; she just wants things to be the way they used to be before the accident. “We just want to let our kids be kids,” she said.
“Last night Taras boiled corn for us. I am so proud of him,” said Lorena.
WorkSafeBC initially declined to comment on the case citing Canada’s Freedom of Information Laws, but have since sent us a statement.
Scott McCloy, director, Government, Community and Media Relations of WorkSafeBC, wrote, "late yesterday, senior staff at WorkSafeBC began a review of the level of home care support being provided for Mr. Atleo and his family. The Vice President of Claims Services, Todd McDonald, has reached out to the Atleo family today to offer a meeting at their convenience, in order to gain a clear understanding of their perspective on their current support and service needs. WorkSafeBC remains committed to providing Mr Atleo and his family with the support required to recover as well as possible from his very serious injuries.
"In these circumstances, please be aware that WorkSafeBC will not make further public comment on this matter."
