SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — For the first time, the family of the man killed in a construction accident is sharing how they are coping with his sudden loss. In a story you'll only see on ABC 10News, they spoke to anchor Melissa Mecija about how Joel Olea Gomez put his family first.
According to his brother, Joel loved his dog, Russo, the outdoors and his family.
"He was my only brother... The only person able to understand me," Marcos Olea said. "And now he's gone."
Joel went to work and never came home. He was working a job in Scripps Ranch early Wednesday morning. That's when emergency crews said he was involved in an accident at a water pipeline construction site after dirt and a pipe crushed him at the bottom of a trench.
The call Marcos received just two days ago haunts him.
"When he told me that... I was only able to imagine what my brother went through in his last moments," Marcos says. "And then having to be the person to make the call and tell my mom... 'Mom, your son passed away," it wasn't something easy for me because I didn't know how my mom was going to take it."
Joel's parents hold onto each other as they face an ordeal no parent should ever have to experience: burying their child.
His mother said while they have their own pain, they don't want to show it as they try to stay strong for Joel's four other siblings. Joel's father held back tears as he remembered his oldest child, who followed in his footsteps in the construction business.
"What do you want people to know about your son?" Mecija asked.
"He was a really good son. He would support [me] a lot, not only mentally but also physically," Joel's father said in Spanish.
Marcos wants people to know how humble, selfless and giving his brother was. Now, their family waits for answers.
"We want to know what really happened. We want to know if it could have been prevented or not," Marcos said.
ABC 10News has reached out to the company involved in this incident, W.A. Rasic Construction. As of Friday afternoon, our newsroom is awaiting a response.
Joel's father wants other construction workers to learn from what happened to his son and take job safety seriously.
The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help with the funeral expenses.
