An accident at a food manufacturing plant in Oklahoma has taken the life of a young man. The victim lived in Duncan with his fiancee and four children, but his promising life came to an end.
Diane Ferris remembers the man who was months away from becoming a part of her family. "He made my niece very happy." Michael Raper was engaged to be married to her niece in February. Monday, Michael celebrated his 26th birthday.
Ferris says "I just can't believe it. It just happened all so fast."
Late Tuesday night Michael was at work here at the BarS food plant in Lawton where he was in charge of cleaning the machinery.
"He slipped and went into the machine," Ferris recounted. "He was still conscious at the time. So I can imagine the agony he was in and he lost both of his legs in this accident."
We're told it took about two hours to free Michael, but the trauma was just too much. He died Wednesday afternoon, leaving behind a fiancee and four children.
"She's going to have a tough time with this. He was a good person," Ferrris added.
Department of Labor officials said an OSHA investigation is now ongoing and they can't talk about specifics. The investigation could take up to six months to complete.
TXT 24
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