Canton. MA - The recent wave of winter storms has public works employees across New England working around the clock to keep our roads and highways clear and safe for passage.
Knowing how much the citizens and public safety personnel count on them, these workers have approached their jobs with a steadfast determination to work as hard and as long as it takes to get the job done. Recently, one AFSCME member took that that dedication to a new level - a level that nearly cost him his life.
After working all day and into the early evening on Sunday, February 8th, Local 362's Tony Pinheiro had some time to go home to Taunton and get some rest before returning to work to plow throughout the night and into the early morning on Monday. Knowing the long commute home and back to Canton could prevent him from being back to work on time, the 53-year old father of three and grandfather of two opted to head back to the Canton Department of Public Works with the hope of catching a few hours of sleep before heading back out on the road. But Pinheiro's mind weighed heavy with concern for his wife and family in Taunton and the work that needed to be done in Canton and he could do little more than toss and turn on the cot as the hours ticked by. "I tried to fall asleep but I just couldn't do it," Pinheiro recalled. "So at about ten o'clock, I climbed back into the truck and went back to work. Working with two contractors, Pinheiro returned to his route, looping through the neighborhoods of Canton in an effort to keep pace with the seemingly endless snowfall. At about 3:30 in the morning, Pinheiro's wiper blades surrendered to the snow and ice forcing him to make a quick stop at the public works yard to replace them. After stopping at the local 7/11 to fill up on some more caffeine, the 22-year veteran of the public works department began to realize something was wrong. "All of a sudden I was having trouble breathing," an emotional Pinheiro recalled. "Then my left arm and left leg went numb." Fortunately, Pinheiro was able to make a phone call to a colleague for help. "The next thing I remember is waking up briefly in the ambulance. Then I was in the emergency room at Norwood Hospital."
While Pinheiro has an abundance of praise for the EMS workers who got him to the hospital and the nurses who took care of him, at that moment he was thinking of another group of workers who made a difference that night. "When we get weather like this people are always commending public safety and EMS workers and rightly so," he said. "These men and women save a lot of lives in times like this. But if we don't clear the roads for them, they can't do their job. As I was lying in that emergency room all I could think of was thank God the roads to the hospital were clear."
But while Pinheiro may have spent a few moments counting his blessings, it wasn't long before he started asking the doctors and nurses for permission to get back to his job. "How much longer is this going to take?" he was heard asking the doctor, "I have to get back to work."
Pinheiro's eagerness to return to the roads came as no surprise to Local 362 President Jack Wagner. "That's Tony, Wagner said. "He's the guy you want in the trenches with you. He's always there and always wants to be there, helping out and doing whatever he can to make a difference."
Council 93 Executive Director Frank Moroney said Pinheiro's work ethic is typical of public works employees throughout New England. "These people work hard all year but when it comes to the type of weather we have been dealing with over the past month, they take their game to a whole new level and they do whatever it takes to get the job done," Moroney said. "They know how many people are relying on them and they are always mindful of the many problems and dangers that can arise if our roads are not clear."
Despite his strong desire to get back out on the road, Pinheiro would spend the better part of the next four days at Norwood Hospital, undergoing a battery of tests and getting some much-needed rest. Pinheiro would eventually learn from his doctors that blood clots, which often occur in people who spend long hours sitting behind the wheel of a truck, had traveled to his heart resulting in a mini-stroke. But as always, Pinheiro maintains his positive attitude and is looking forward to getting back to work soon. "If it wasn't for the people who helped me and those roads being clear, things could have been a lot worse," Pinheiro said.
Knowing how much the citizens and public safety personnel count on them, these workers have approached their jobs with a steadfast determination to work as hard and as long as it takes to get the job done. Recently, one AFSCME member took that that dedication to a new level - a level that nearly cost him his life.
After working all day and into the early evening on Sunday, February 8th, Local 362's Tony Pinheiro had some time to go home to Taunton and get some rest before returning to work to plow throughout the night and into the early morning on Monday. Knowing the long commute home and back to Canton could prevent him from being back to work on time, the 53-year old father of three and grandfather of two opted to head back to the Canton Department of Public Works with the hope of catching a few hours of sleep before heading back out on the road. But Pinheiro's mind weighed heavy with concern for his wife and family in Taunton and the work that needed to be done in Canton and he could do little more than toss and turn on the cot as the hours ticked by. "I tried to fall asleep but I just couldn't do it," Pinheiro recalled. "So at about ten o'clock, I climbed back into the truck and went back to work. Working with two contractors, Pinheiro returned to his route, looping through the neighborhoods of Canton in an effort to keep pace with the seemingly endless snowfall. At about 3:30 in the morning, Pinheiro's wiper blades surrendered to the snow and ice forcing him to make a quick stop at the public works yard to replace them. After stopping at the local 7/11 to fill up on some more caffeine, the 22-year veteran of the public works department began to realize something was wrong. "All of a sudden I was having trouble breathing," an emotional Pinheiro recalled. "Then my left arm and left leg went numb." Fortunately, Pinheiro was able to make a phone call to a colleague for help. "The next thing I remember is waking up briefly in the ambulance. Then I was in the emergency room at Norwood Hospital."
While Pinheiro has an abundance of praise for the EMS workers who got him to the hospital and the nurses who took care of him, at that moment he was thinking of another group of workers who made a difference that night. "When we get weather like this people are always commending public safety and EMS workers and rightly so," he said. "These men and women save a lot of lives in times like this. But if we don't clear the roads for them, they can't do their job. As I was lying in that emergency room all I could think of was thank God the roads to the hospital were clear."
But while Pinheiro may have spent a few moments counting his blessings, it wasn't long before he started asking the doctors and nurses for permission to get back to his job. "How much longer is this going to take?" he was heard asking the doctor, "I have to get back to work."
Pinheiro's eagerness to return to the roads came as no surprise to Local 362 President Jack Wagner. "That's Tony, Wagner said. "He's the guy you want in the trenches with you. He's always there and always wants to be there, helping out and doing whatever he can to make a difference."
Council 93 Executive Director Frank Moroney said Pinheiro's work ethic is typical of public works employees throughout New England. "These people work hard all year but when it comes to the type of weather we have been dealing with over the past month, they take their game to a whole new level and they do whatever it takes to get the job done," Moroney said. "They know how many people are relying on them and they are always mindful of the many problems and dangers that can arise if our roads are not clear."
Despite his strong desire to get back out on the road, Pinheiro would spend the better part of the next four days at Norwood Hospital, undergoing a battery of tests and getting some much-needed rest. Pinheiro would eventually learn from his doctors that blood clots, which often occur in people who spend long hours sitting behind the wheel of a truck, had traveled to his heart resulting in a mini-stroke. But as always, Pinheiro maintains his positive attitude and is looking forward to getting back to work soon. "If it wasn't for the people who helped me and those roads being clear, things could have been a lot worse," Pinheiro said.