I COULDN'T CLIMB THIS TOWER
And then there's "this guy." Yup. The one at the top. He's dead. Not here in this photo, but later, on another climb
In Race For Better Cell Service, Men Who Climb Towers Pay With Their Lives
On a clear evening in May, Guilford was dangling, 150 feet in the air, from a cell tower in southwest Indiana. He had been sent aloft to take pictures of AT&T antennas soon to be replaced by 3G equipment.
Work complete, Guilford sped his descent by rappelling on a rope. Safety standards required him to step down the metal pole, peg by peg, using a special line that would catch automatically if he fell. But tower climbing is a field in which such rules are routinely ignored.
“Bouncy, bouncy,” Guilford, 25, called jovially to men on the ground.
Then, in an instant, the hook attaching the rope to the tower – broken and missing its safety latch – came loose. Guilford plummeted to the gravel below, landing feet first. The impact shattered his legs and burst his aorta. He bled to death in minutes.
And then there's "this guy." Yup. The one at the top. He's dead. Not here in this photo, but later, on another climb
In Race For Better Cell Service, Men Who Climb Towers Pay With Their Lives
On a clear evening in May, Guilford was dangling, 150 feet in the air, from a cell tower in southwest Indiana. He had been sent aloft to take pictures of AT&T antennas soon to be replaced by 3G equipment.
Work complete, Guilford sped his descent by rappelling on a rope. Safety standards required him to step down the metal pole, peg by peg, using a special line that would catch automatically if he fell. But tower climbing is a field in which such rules are routinely ignored.
“Bouncy, bouncy,” Guilford, 25, called jovially to men on the ground.
Then, in an instant, the hook attaching the rope to the tower – broken and missing its safety latch – came loose. Guilford plummeted to the gravel below, landing feet first. The impact shattered his legs and burst his aorta. He bled to death in minutes.