DUNMORE, Pa. -- People came out Sunday to help ease the financial burden of a local DPW worker.
A pasta dinner and raffle was held at Carmella's Restaurant in Dunmore.
The event was put together to help out Michael Butler.
Butler was injured in January after he fell off the back of a garbage truck while on the job.
Those close to Michael are taken aback by the community's help.
"It's absolutely heartwarming but this is our community, we take care of our own," said Jackie Butler, Michael's mother.
The money raised at the event will help assist with medical expenses while Butler recovers in Lackawanna County.
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DUNMORE, PA -- A DPW worker in Lackawanna County is in critical condition after he fell off a garbage truck.
Michael Butler, 40, of Dunmore has been hospitalized since the accident last Thursday.
Posted on the Facebook site of Michael Butler were messages of support and prayers.
Police say the Dunmore DPW worker was seriously injured last Thursday when he fell off the garbage truck he was riding on.
Dunmore police say Butler was standing on the back of the truck while riding down the 200 block of West Grove Street in the borough when the step he was standing on snapped off. Butler fell to the ground, hitting his head on the pavement.
When the ambulance and officers arrived, they found Butler bleeding heavily from the head.
A second DPW worker who was riding on the other side of the rear of the truck told police he didn't see Butler fall but heard a “bang and looked back to see Butler lying in the roadway bleeding and the metal step lying alongside of him.”
Butler was taken first taken to a hospital in Scranton. Friends say he has now been flown to a hospital in Philadelphia.
On Delaware Street in Dunmore, where Butler's parents live, neighbor Billy Roche says he's known Michael Butler Sr. for decades. He says Butler Jr. is a well-liked man.
“Very nice guy, real nice guy,” said Roche.
Dunmore police say the garbage truck was taken back to Dunmore DPW and placed in a secured bay with police tape surrounding it in case further investigation is needed.
At Dunmore's regular council meeting, the council president said borough officials have been in touch with the Butler family but declined to comment out of respect for the family.
For the Butlers' neighbor, he says he'll help in any way possible.
“Oh, I feel bad,” said Roche. “I feel really bad, and if there's anything I could do, I would do it for them.”
Michael Butler is at Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. A spokesperson said he is in critical condition.