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Russ Youngstrom grew up in the Puget Sound area. He enjoyed pheasant and chukar hunting, fishing, and riding his motorcycle. He describes himself as a “risk taker.”
"I was always the first one to see how far up I could climb a tree, try the new neighborhood bicycle jump, or dive off a cliff into a river."
As a young adult, he worked in maintenance at the Space Needle, where he met Laurel, a hostess at the restaurant. They shared a love of adventure and the outdoors, and enjoyed fishing, hiking, and riding Russ’ motorcycle. In 1991, they were married in a hot air balloon, several months after their first date. Russ took a job with a painting company, and Laurel continued working in the restaurant business, as well as her job in geriatric recreation.
In 1993, they had a son, Spencer. Just two years later, in 1995, Laurel was working in a nursing home when she got “the phone call.” All that the caller could tell her was that Russ had been involved in a “serious accident,” and that she needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible. Russ had fallen off of a scaffolding and severed his spinal cord, leaving him a complete, permanent paraplegic.
Three months later, he was able to come home, although he remained an outpatient for another year. Laurel promptly learned all she never wanted to know about nursing. Their lives changed drastically. Everything had to be modified to accommodate their new lifestyle. Through the years, they have experienced the numerous complications that often come with paraplegia – blood clots, calcifications, leg spasms, bladder infections, pressure ulcers, bowel problems, infections, and over thirty-two surgeries.
Spencer endured teasing from the neighborhood kids because his dad was different. Russ was not able to do many of the father/son activities that are enjoyed by other families. As Spencer got older, he asked if he could be a big brother. Sadly, this was not a possibility anymore. Russ was also unable to fully participate in his son’s sports endeavors. Lacking the height, leverage, balance and mobility, he was limited in the ways he could help with football, basketball, baseball, and cross country. Russ continues to struggle in a society designed for those of us who are ambulatory, and never has been declared medically stable enough to return to a normal work environment.
Hiking, boating, fishing, hunting, and riding their motorcycle have all had to be modified. What does the future hold for the Youngstroms? As Russ ages, several more surgeries are just around the corner. Eventually, his shoulders, elbows and wrists will not tolerate additional surgeries, and he will have to give up his manual wheelchair. When the Youngstroms have grandchildren, he will experience the same inability to participate with them in their activities as he did with Spencer. Russ has a shorter life expectancy than the rest of us, and his future is uncertain, so Laurel has had to retire early, so that they may spend as much time together as possible, cherishing every moment they are given.
Russ and Laurel both have dedicated their lives to sharing their tragic experience with those whom they feel could benefit the most from hearing their story.
We do safety presentations, anywhere in the country, for any shift, in any industry. Unlike others who share our passion for safety, we will not review regulations and best practices, although the choice not to follow them is at the heart of our message and the life we have led for the past 27 years. What we will do is paint an unvarnished picture of what the future holds for workers who choose ease or ego over safety.
When your team is spread across multiple locations or gathering them all at the same time is a challenge, Russ and Laurel can share their message virtually.
“The first time that I saw their presentation up in Michigan, it touched my heart in so many ways and at that time I remember thinking “everyone in construction, manufacturing, general industry and even small businesses should hear and see this presentation”. Nobody thinks it will happen to them. When you hear how one disastrous decision can change an entire family, their hopes and dreams, everything they were looking forward to, and hear how it can be shattered in a single moment, you realize that you have to change what you do. How you manage your workers. Russ and Laurel’s unflinching honesty and often times brutal descriptions of how one bad decision has changed their lives in so many ways, is something that every worker should hear. “
It’s easy to let safety slip your mind. But when a slip up occurs, that’s all that’s on your mind. We understand how easy it is to forget to mention the importance of safety, so we’ve put together a dozen Safety Meeting Prompts that take less than 5 minutes!
Youngstrom Safety