Homeowner injured in Dracut deck collapse

DRACUT, Mass. — A Dracut homeowner was injured when the deck he was working on Tuesday collapsed.

Neighbor Frank Gorman told Boston 25 News the homeowner returned home from the hospital Tuesday night and was preparing for major shoulder surgery in the days ahead.

Gorman had been working from home when he opened the door to let his cat out and heard calls for help around 2 p.m.

“I heard somebody yell, ‘Help! Help!’” Gorman said. “Just as I was coming out, my wife was coming home from work, and we heard ‘Help! Help!’ again. And we ran over the hill here, and we noticed the deck was caved in. And we heard “help,” and sure enough, we looked down below and our neighbor John was underneath the deck.”

The deck had separated from the Regency Drive house and collapsed on one side. The back posts remained upright.

The homeowner was lying underneath in pain, having injured his shoulder. He was trapped between the ground and the collapsed deck, the structure dangerously hovering just inches about his head, Gorman said.

“It was maybe six inches from the top of him, and nobody could go underneath, because the top was just hanging there,” Gorman said. “And I could hear it going crack, crack, crack. So I was looking around for some 4-by-4s or something to hold it up.”

Gorman’s wife called 911. Firefighters slid under the deck and pulled the homeowner to safety.

The victim was loaded onto a stretcher in a neck brace and carried to an ambulance to be taken to the hospital.

Dracut Building Inspector Dan McLaughlin told Boston 25 News initial information indicated the homeowner had been repairing water-damaged sheathing behind the deck ledger board - or beam that attaches the deck to the house - when the deck collapsed, sending him tumbling.

“He was very lucky that the outer support posts held, which prevented the deck from collapsing completely,” McLaughlin said by email.

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