Westfield contractor airlifted after falling from roof and being impaled on railing
Callers reported that a man had fallen from the roof of a residence and landed on the metal edge of a staircase railing
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A 24-year-old roofing contractor was airlifted to a trauma center Saturday after falling from a roof and impaling himself on a metal railing in Westfield.
Westfield police, fire and rescue personnel, along with paramedics, responded to a 911 call in the 300 block of Wychwood Road at approximately 1:34 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29.
Callers reported that 24-year-old Stavros Makris had fallen from the roof of a residence and landed on the pointed metal edge of a staircase railing, causing a deep puncture wound to his chest that was bleeding heavily.
The first police officer arrived within 3½ minutes of the dispatch and found Makris conscious and alert despite a gaping chest wound near his right armpit. Westfield Fire Department personnel treated Makris at the scene and applied a chest seal to stabilize him.
A New Jersey State Police helicopter landed at a designated landing zone in Echo Lake Park in nearby Mountainside to transport Makris to University Hospital in Newark, one of New Jersey’s three Level I trauma centers.
Makris, a Westfield resident and roofing contractor, was inspecting the roof at the time of the incident. A GoFundMe campaign has since been set up by a friend to help support his recovery.
Following an investigation by the Westfield Police Department’s Detective Bureau, officials deemed the fall accidental.
