A worker who was injured during construction of Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta has died, a family member said.
Sonny Rogers, who suffered a severe head injury in July 2015 when scaffolding fell on him, died July 18 at a hospital in Chattanooga, Tenn., brother Abie Rogers told AJC.com on Wednesday.
Rogers, who was 31, had been in a care facility in northwest Georgia before he was moved to the hospital in Tennessee due to complications, his brother said.
The construction incident happened near the intersection of Mangum and Mitchell streets, under a concrete structure on the east side of the new stadium site, AJC.com previously reported.
Sonny Rogers was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital for treatment, according to his brother, and later underwent treatment at Shepherd Spinal Center.
He later was transferred to Safehaven, a facility in Rock Spring in northwest Georgia that specializes in caring for victims of brain injuries.
Abie Rogers said he had worked in construction at the new stadium for about a year when he helped his brother, who was working in the food industry, join the building crew.
“He was a Falcons fan,” Abie Rogers said of his brother. “It was an opportunity to help build the stadium.”
However, Abie Rogers remembers getting a call from a friend, who told him, “‘Hey, man, I think a scaffold fell on your brother.’”
By the time Abie Rogers got to the scene, the scaffold had been removed.
“(Sonny Rogers) was laying right there on ground level,” he recalled.
Soon after, project director Pete Pemantell released a statement on behalf of the Holder, Hunt, HJ Russell and CD Moody construction companies, who worked on the stadium. He said Rogers was injured during “scaffold removal.”
Ground was broken in 2015 for the stadium, which opened for the 2017 football season.
===========================
Love Peace is
feeling blessed.July 25, 2017 ·
thinkin about alot its crazy how ppl just forget about ppl my brother sonny worked for the Georgia Dome back in 2015 is crazy the Dome , about to be open for games and stuff and they just forgot about a black man who worked out there and got hurt out there not to be racist but if it was a white man who got hurt he would have been updates and updates from the time that he got hurt to now my brother been in the shepherd center for 2 years not once anybody came to see how he was doing.not even the manger he work for reached out to the family and see how we was doing m*********** just don't understand the pain and suffering that we going through out here being black and young see what they fail to realize they think we going to just throw this s*** under the rug which we ain't cuz we smarter than that we doing an update again so the
🌎
would know this young black man had survived his injury he have a
catastrophic injury spinal injuries and more and he still living to this
day by the grace of God and the family that he got around him they
actually gave my brother 3 months to live by the higher power God say
no he going to live some more that's crazy how the hell the dr going to
prevent on how somebody going live it is a higher power before it was
doctor the moral of my story is they trying to cover up things things
that should be shown and out there so the world can know that this black
man Sonny Rogers has Survivor injury that I don't think anyone can ever
survived but by the grace of God 12 scaffolds came down one hitting my
brother and ahead and he survived and still survive and by the grace of
God i want everyone to go on my page my brothers page and look at the
link n share the link please we aint giving up until justice has been
served #teamrogersforever we love u sonny. Tykema Rogers Abie Rogers C.b. Rogers Lanie Hall we all we got=======================Scaffolding falls on worker at new Atlanta Falcons stadium site
Updated July 01, 2015
By
Tyler Estep, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A construction worker was being treated for a severe head injury Wednesday after metal scaffolding fell on him at the site of the new Atlanta Falcons stadium, officials said.
The incident occurred at about 9:15 a.m. near the intersection of Mangum and Mitchell streets, under a concrete structure on the east side of the new stadium site.
Atlanta police spokeswoman Officer Kim Jones said the worker suffered a severe head injury, but further details were not available. Jennifer LeMaster, spokeswoman for the Georgia World Congress Center, whose police force is now the lead agency investigating the scaffolding accident, said she had no additional information.
On Wednesday afternoon, project director Pete Pemantell released a statement on behalf of the Holder, Hunt, HJ Russell and CD Moody construction companies, who are working on the stadium. He said the worker was injured during “scaffold removal” and was “taken to medical facilities where he is currently being treated.”
“The area of the accident has been secured and we are conducting a thorough investigation into the cause of the accident,” the statement said. “Our primary concern is for the safety and well-being of our workers, and our thoughts and prayers are with the injured worker and his family.”
Officials with the Atlanta Falcons did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Ground was broken last May on the Falcons’ new stadium, which is going up on a site just south of the current Georgia Dome. Construction is expected to be completed in time for the 2017 football season.