Taken out of his induced coma, the man critically injured on the job at the Flour Mill silos property on Notre Dame Avenue last week is progressing along his long road to recovery.
Cameron Stone’s journey has, however, come with its challenges.
The 26-year-old now has pneumonia alongside a fever he is fighting in the intensive care unit.
“Because of his fever, the nurses need to put a cooling blanket on him which makes him shiver,” his cousin, Alora Violet-Marie Kerr, wrote in an update on Stone’s situation to supporters on a GoFundMe campaign page on Monday.
“Seeing as he has so many broken bones, they don't want him to suffer when he shivers and put him back under sedation. So this weekend was an awful game of cooling blanket with sedation to no cooling blanket and no sedation. Back and forth.”
This, she added, continued into Monday, which marks one week after the workplace incident that injured him. He has been receiving fentanyl to manage the pain.
The family’s previous update to supporters came on Friday, when Stone was taken off of the sedation that was putting him in an induced coma.
“He is breathing on his own now but still has the respirator in case he needs it,” they reported at the time.
“He sometimes opens his eyes slightly so I can see his beautiful brown eyes, although they are extremely groggy and not sure of what is going on. We keep reassuring him that he is safe and everyone is cheering for him.”
The road to recovery will be a “very long haul,” but Kerr notes that Stone has family, friends and many people sending prayers and support.
Kerr reiterated the family’s appreciation for the public's various means of support, which has included more than $26,000 via two GoFundMe campaigns.
The GoFundMe campaign organized by Kerr has raised $21,025 against a goal of $10,000, while a GoFundMe campaign by friend Breanne Ross has raised $5,625 against a goal of $5,000.
Stone’s common-law partner, Brittany Sheahan, is currently caring for the couple’s infant daughter, Serenity, who was born less than two months ago.
The life-changing workplace incident took place on June 6, when the cherry picker Stone was working on approximately 60 feet in the sky at the Flour Mill silos site toppled over, sending him to the ground while harnessed to the lift.
At the site, remnants of a cut-up harness were seen and one of the machine’s supporting wheels was found sunken in a hole in the ground.
Stone was working as an employee of CK Construction Inc. – a contractor hired by the city to help clean up the silos site for a 111th anniversary celebration and lights display planned for later this year.
On June 8, Stone’s mother, Line Stone, wrote an update for the public on one of the GoFundMe pages in which she noted that it was a “miracle” her son survived.
He has since undergone spinal surgery and had 10 broken ribs placed properly to heal, according to the family’s latest update. A pelvis surgery is on the horizon and a neck brace is expected to remain on him for three months to help his neck heal properly.
In the family’s latest update posted on Monday, they thanked the intensive care unit team for their empathetic treatment and for keeping Stone as comfortable as possible.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
