When I found him, I gave him his invitation and asked him if he could provide some dishes and plates for the wedding celebration. He happily agreed. He made his way toward his factory and I walked alongside him. I followed him into the machinery area and he asked one of his co-workers to give me some household items. While he was speaking to his co-worker, he was standing near one of the big machines.  Suddenly, the big machine grabbed his jacket. His work-gown was being swallowed up by the machine!   We all began to shout: “Help! Help!”  His co-workers began screaming, “Stop the machine!” but the machine was running very fast, so no-one could stop it. Everyone tried hard to save him, and he struggled to take off his gown, but he couldn’t. As we started to pull it off him, the machine grabbed his hand. All the workers and I tried to save him, but the machine was still running and started to pull in his entire body. All the workers were screaming and running for the emergency controls. We were all struggling to stop the machine, but the power was on so high that it wouldn’t stop.

By that time, my father’s friend was starting to choke, and although the emergency workers had been called, they had not yet arrived. I started to scream and fight with the electricians. I yelled over and over, “Stop the machine! Stop the machine!”

Then, something happened which shocked us all. The machine suddenly became stuck and stopped. The machine had swallowed up one of his calculators which was in his gown pocket. At that moment, the emergency workers rushed in. They immediately took him to hospital. He was bleeding profusely.  Just one day later, he was released from hospital.

It was a miracle that his life was saved by something he had casually placed in his pocket. I strongly recommend that anyone who works in a factory be extremely careful when working or standing close to powerful machines.

Georgis Negassi is a student in Sheila Morris’
Grade 11 English Class.