A 73-year-old military veteran in Oregon who was on his way home from a store in his motorized wheelchair fell into a construction trench and suffered fatal injuries, leading his family to file a wrongful death lawsuit that was settled this month. The family had sued the state of Oregon and county contractors, claiming the man was told he could cross through the construction site by local workers.
Carl Wescott, of Sweet Home, suffered an open ankle fracture-dislocation, left upper arm bone fracture, left fibula fracture, and damage to his muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves and soft tissues of his head, neck, shoulders, back, hips and legs after falling into the trench in 2022, according to the lawsuit, which was obtained by the Albany Democrat-Herald and its sister publication, the Corvallis Gazette-Times.
“Carl Wescott spent his final days in a hospital bed,” the complaint said…