Contractor Loses Eye in Work Accident

A contractor in Maplewood lost his eye while working.

The contractor, a young adult male who was not identified, was working outside a house on Union Avenue in Maplewood at about 1:40 p.m., when the nail gun he was working with accidentally discharged, said Deputy Chief Joseph Callaghan of the Maplewood Fire Department, which dispatched EMTs to the house. “He was conscious, but it looks like it was a total removal of the eye,” said Callaghan.

Callaghan said the worker was taken to University Hospital in Newark, where he was listed in stable condition this afternoon.

Callaghan said it was unknown just how the nail gun discharged into the worker’s eye.

Callaghan said nail gun accidents were not uncommon, though they usually involve an extremity. What was highly unusual in this case, however, was that an eye was taken out and never found at the scene.

“There are nail gun incidents. We’ve had them in hands, in legs, but never like this,” Callaghan said. “I’ve never heard of one where they could not find an eye.”

What’s the worst accident you’ve ever had on the job?