This past Tuesday I received a phone call about 4:20 P.M. (from my cousin's wife that is also an oilfield wife..... {us wives gotta stick together}) telling me that there had been an accident on the rig and all communications had been shut down.
My heart sank. Literally. I was in tears, I was a nervous wreck, but the kids were with me so I was trying to be strong.
She told me who she was told had passed and although Kyle did not work directly with him, my heart still ached so badly for his family. He was someone's son, husband, father, friend, etc. And all though we knew there was a fatality, we did not know what kind of accident it was, if there were others injured, etc. We couldn't contact our husbands and they couldn't contact us. It was a rough hour of not knowing and honestly it felt like an eternity.
I called one of our good friends that is a Driller to ask him if we would have already been notified if something had of happened to our husbands and he said yes. That gave me a slight sigh of relief, but none the less I was still worried about Kyle and his coworkers because I knew this tragedy was going to cause so much heartache with their rig family.
I had last talked to Kyle Tuesday morning about 10:35 A.M.. We were talking and then it just stopped. I honestly didn't think much about it because the internet on the rig goes in and out. If the wind blows a certain way the phones may or may not work.... so worrying about what happened was no where close to my mind. Turns out the accident happened about 10:00A.M.-10:15A.M. (somewhere in there) and all communication was shut down.
WE. WERE. ALL. WORRIED. ABOUT. OUR. HUSBANDS.
I had gotten a message about lunch Tuesday from another oilfield wife friend that asked if I had talked to Kyle. I told her no.... that it had gone out. I still didn't really think much about it. And then when I got the phone call asking if I had talked to him I was starting to put pieces together and knew something must be up. My cousin worked side by side with the guy that supposedly passed and was very close to him. The oilfield is such a dangerous profession that any number of accidents could have happened and not knowing was awful. If it was some type of explosion, then numerous people could have been harmed. If it was a Blowout (where the rig blows up) then it would have surely already been on the news.... so we would have known already..... SOOO many things were going through our minds.
Finally, at 5:23 I received a text from a fellow rig wife that let me know Kyle was OK. She had heard from her husband and he said Kyle was good. I was a little upset that she had heard from her husband and I had not heard from mine, but not long after I heard from him (words cannot express how thankful I was to hear from him). He didn't realize they had turned the internet back on.
Everything is still under investigation. They completely shut the rig down Tuesday-_____ not sure when work will begin again. He nor any of them are supposed to discuss what happened while everything is being investigated. I do know it was his first day with his new position and he was not working side by side with my cousin. Doesn't make the situation any lighter, because working side by side with anyone for almost 10 months and then losing them the way they lost him, will cause true heart ache for anyone.
I have read most all of the write ups about the accident on the Pacific Santa Ana since all of this has happened, but this was one of the better articles to me....
I know I take for granted how dangerous Kyle's job is. I just "expect" him to go to work and come home. I mostly think about the accidents that can happen on the drive to and from work rather than how dangerous actually being on the rig is. He said that it is like a funeral out there. Everyone has been so quiet and have gotten much closer since the accident. They haven't been able to work, so they are just hanging out, talking, staring, & thinking. He said they were even talking about how much they take for granted how dangerous what they do is and how everything can change in a split second (no matter where you are). He also said that no amount of meetings (and they have LOTS of meetings each hitch) can prepare you for something like this actually happening.
Please pray for Sam's family and all of the guys that are on the rig. This has really shaken them up. When they are away from their own families, their Rig Family is all they have. They form this special bond and truly are family. I can hardly wait to put my arms around Kyle and give him the biggest hug ever. I am so thankful he is okay, but I am so saddened that someone lost their life. This is going to be a rough hitch to finish and prayer is going to be the only thing that we can do to help them out there.
I sent Kyle this verse yesterday and though it is short, it is powerful:
He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.
Psalm 147:3
Rig Worker Killed In Gulf Of Mexico Oil Rig Accident
October 22, 2015
A 34-year-old Hope man was killed Oct. 20 while working aboard an oil rig off the coast of Louisiana.
Sam
Whitley was working aboard the Pacific Santa Ana, a ship owned by
Pacific Drilling, at the time of the accident. The ship was about 200
miles off the coast of Lake Charles, La., and had just begun operations
at the time of the accident, which occurred sometime around 10 a.m.,
according to Heidi Brown, Whitley's sister-in-law.
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said in a
statement that the Pacific Santa Ana drill ship was beginning drilling
operations for Chevron at the time of the fatality. Brown said they had
yet to break seawater.
Operations on the drill ship have been shut down, according to the
BSEE statement. There were no other injuries reported and personnel
remain on the ship. There was no reported pollution.
BSEE and U.S. Coast Guard inspectors traveled to the drill ship the
afternoon of Oct. 20 to begin collecting evidence and taking statements.
The incident will be investigated by both BSEE and the Coast Guard.
Brown said the family has not been given many details about what may
have occurred, as an investigation is getting under way today.
"All they are telling us is an accident happened and he was fatally injured," Brown said.
Whitley, who began working on the ship in January, was previously a self-employed roofer.
His wife, Stacy Whitley, left for Louisiana the morning of Oct. 21 to
learn more information. Brown said at this point officials will only
confirm the cause of death, and no details of what happened are being
released yet.
"You don't meet many people like Sam Whitley," Brown said, noting that he was a phenomenal husband, father, brother and friend.
Danielle Fagonde, principal at Hope Elementary School, where the
Whitleys' three children are students, sent out a notice to the school
community Oct. 21.
"It
is with deep sorrow that I write to you today to let you know about a
tragedy that happened in our school community yesterday..." Fagonde said
in the email.
A guidance counselor is available at the school Oct. 21 to meet with students and staff as needed.
Several fundraisers are under way to aid the family. A gofundme site
is being set up, as well as a meal train fundraiser where community
members can sign up to help provide dinners to the family. To sign up,
go to
http://www.mealtrain.com/trains/vvlz6w
By Kim Lincoln
Source:
KNOX Village Soup
- See more at:
http://roughneckcity.com/roughneck-city/oilfieldnews/99/rig-worker-killed-in-gulf-of-mexico-oil-rig-accident#sthash.7a4Ptjbg.dpuf
Rig Worker Killed In Gulf Of Mexico Oil Rig Accident
October 22, 2015
A 34-year-old Hope man was killed Oct. 20 while working aboard an oil rig off the coast of Louisiana.
Sam
Whitley was working aboard the Pacific Santa Ana, a ship owned by
Pacific Drilling, at the time of the accident. The ship was about 200
miles off the coast of Lake Charles, La., and had just begun operations
at the time of the accident, which occurred sometime around 10 a.m.,
according to Heidi Brown, Whitley's sister-in-law.
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said in a
statement that the Pacific Santa Ana drill ship was beginning drilling
operations for Chevron at the time of the fatality. Brown said they had
yet to break seawater.
Operations on the drill ship have been shut down, according to the
BSEE statement. There were no other injuries reported and personnel
remain on the ship. There was no reported pollution.
BSEE and U.S. Coast Guard inspectors traveled to the drill ship the
afternoon of Oct. 20 to begin collecting evidence and taking statements.
The incident will be investigated by both BSEE and the Coast Guard.
Brown said the family has not been given many details about what may
have occurred, as an investigation is getting under way today.
"All they are telling us is an accident happened and he was fatally injured," Brown said.
Whitley, who began working on the ship in January, was previously a self-employed roofer.
His wife, Stacy Whitley, left for Louisiana the morning of Oct. 21 to
learn more information. Brown said at this point officials will only
confirm the cause of death, and no details of what happened are being
released yet.
"You don't meet many people like Sam Whitley," Brown said, noting that he was a phenomenal husband, father, brother and friend.
Danielle Fagonde, principal at Hope Elementary School, where the
Whitleys' three children are students, sent out a notice to the school
community Oct. 21.
"It
is with deep sorrow that I write to you today to let you know about a
tragedy that happened in our school community yesterday..." Fagonde said
in the email.
A guidance counselor is available at the school Oct. 21 to meet with students and staff as needed.
Several fundraisers are under way to aid the family. A gofundme site
is being set up, as well as a meal train fundraiser where community
members can sign up to help provide dinners to the family. To sign up,
go to
http://www.mealtrain.com/trains/vvlz6w
By Kim Lincoln
Source:
KNOX Village Soup
- See more at:
http://roughneckcity.com/roughneck-city/oilfieldnews/99/rig-worker-killed-in-gulf-of-mexico-oil-rig-accident#sthash.7a4Ptjbg.dpuf
Rig Worker Killed In Gulf Of Mexico Oil Rig Accident
October 22, 2015
A 34-year-old Hope man was killed Oct. 20 while working aboard an oil rig off the coast of Louisiana.
Sam
Whitley was working aboard the Pacific Santa Ana, a ship owned by
Pacific Drilling, at the time of the accident. The ship was about 200
miles off the coast of Lake Charles, La., and had just begun operations
at the time of the accident, which occurred sometime around 10 a.m.,
according to Heidi Brown, Whitley's sister-in-law.
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said in a
statement that the Pacific Santa Ana drill ship was beginning drilling
operations for Chevron at the time of the fatality. Brown said they had
yet to break seawater.
Operations on the drill ship have been shut down, according to the
BSEE statement. There were no other injuries reported and personnel
remain on the ship. There was no reported pollution.
BSEE and U.S. Coast Guard inspectors traveled to the drill ship the
afternoon of Oct. 20 to begin collecting evidence and taking statements.
The incident will be investigated by both BSEE and the Coast Guard.
Brown said the family has not been given many details about what may
have occurred, as an investigation is getting under way today.
"All they are telling us is an accident happened and he was fatally injured," Brown said.
Whitley, who began working on the ship in January, was previously a self-employed roofer.
His wife, Stacy Whitley, left for Louisiana the morning of Oct. 21 to
learn more information. Brown said at this point officials will only
confirm the cause of death, and no details of what happened are being
released yet.
"You don't meet many people like Sam Whitley," Brown said, noting that he was a phenomenal husband, father, brother and friend.
Danielle Fagonde, principal at Hope Elementary School, where the
Whitleys' three children are students, sent out a notice to the school
community Oct. 21.
"It
is with deep sorrow that I write to you today to let you know about a
tragedy that happened in our school community yesterday..." Fagonde said
in the email.
A guidance counselor is available at the school Oct. 21 to meet with students and staff as needed.
Several fundraisers are under way to aid the family. A gofundme site
is being set up, as well as a meal train fundraiser where community
members can sign up to help provide dinners to the family. To sign up,
go to
http://www.mealtrain.com/trains/vvlz6w
By Kim Lincoln
Source:
KNOX Village Soup
- See more at:
http://roughneckcity.com/roughneck-city/oilfieldnews/99/rig-worker-killed-in-gulf-of-mexico-oil-rig-accident#sthash.7a4Ptjbg.dpuf
