In one of the day’s most dramatic scenes, George Veigas, 37, spent two hours neck-deep in cement and steel as eight rescue workers frantically tried to free him. Directly above, a large concrete block dangled from the wreckage, as welders with acetylene torches cut away the reinforcing rods surrounding Veigas. A bucket line formed, with workers using hard hats to bring water up from the river, to keep Veigas cool and to prevent the rods from burning him as they were heated. Dr. A.J. Quarrington, among the doctors and interns who had arrived from the Civic, joined in the rescue efforts, scooping out wet concrete with his bare hands, while the amputation of one of Veigas’s feet was considered as a measure to free him. Veigas’s arms and face were massaged as he fell unconscious, and it was eventually discovered that efforts to rescue him were being hampered by the arms of a dead worker clamped around his legs. He was freed at 5:30 p.m. and flown by RCAF helicopter to the National Defence Tri-Services Hospital.
From the Archives: The Ottawa bridge collapse that shocked the world: ‘They didn’t have much time to scream’
