SAFETY
to die because he was supposed to go first,”
said Giguere. “I was so focused on getting
the job done that I never thought about it.
I never thought I’d later lose my house or
get divorced because of what happened.
But after the accident, I had a lot of time to
think about it.”
It was a long road to recovery. There are
three areas of Giguere’s brain where cells
started dying due to lack of oxygen; he spent
two-and-a-half years in therapy working to
improve his cognitive skills and counter the
debilitating effects of post-traumatic stress.
To this day, his short-term memory is
not always the best and he suffers back
pain. But Giguere says that as bad as the
accident was, it was nothing compared to
the aftershocks.
“After the accident happened, my life fell
apart in front of my eyes. I was lucky enough
to live; I had broken bones, a punctured lung
and cut marks from the shovel, but those
things all healed. But what I did to my family,
those things never go away. My dad died
when I was small and my grandfather is my
best friend; he was devastated. Those things
you do to your family and your co-workers
when you’re careless, those things last way
longer than the broken bones. The impact
on your loved ones is tremendous.”
Giguere still suffers nightmares about
being buried alive, the weight of the soil
pressing down on him. It took him 11 years
to swim again because he didn’t want to
hold his breath. He avoided parking garages
and elevators and hated the dark.
He’d always dreamed of becoming a New
York State police officer and went back to
college after his physical recovery, earning
the necessary credits. He took the police
exam and scored well, but was ultimately
declined. He became depressed. Everything
in his life was falling apart.
And then one day, he saw an opportunity.
“My lawnmower broke and I had no
money. This guy down the road was selling a
push mower for $10. I went there to buy it and
noticed his work truck in the yard. He said he
was the supervisor, so I told him what happened
to me and said if he ever wanted me to
come and talk to his guys, I would. He called
me and I went in and told them my story. It
just kind of took off from there.”
Talk therapy
Today, at age 44, Giguere is the owner of
Safety Awareness Solutions, a company
he founded in 2006. He travels across
the U.S. and Canada, telling his story at
“I was dead,” said Giguere, as his co-workers pulled him out of the ground
Giguere’s co-workers made the painstaking decision to use the machine to remove
about two feet of dirt and dug by hand from there. It took 10 minutes to reach him.
Giguere delivering his presentation in Maine
Eric Giguere, Safety Awareness Solutions
100 | ISSUE 1 2020 www.piledrivers.org