A 21-year-old employee at a golf cart company’s factory in Georgia died after his arm was pulled by a conveyor belt as he reached for his AirPods, authorities and media reports said.
Alyssa Drinkard was pinned under a machine last Friday when a belt chain caught her, according to an incident report from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office and police. WSB-TV reported.
Co-workers said Drinkard, a contract line worker, became trapped as he tried to reach for AirPod earphones that had fallen under a conveyor belt.
Emergency responders had to cut through the metal frame to remove her, but maintenance quickly shut down the machine and disassembled it, the incident report states.
Drinkard still had a pulse when he was rushed to a nearby hospital, but died from his injuries the next morning, the sheriff’s office said.
The plant is used by Club Car, which manufactures golf carts and other commercial utility vehicles.
The company said in a statement that Drinkard was a contract worker who worked at its main manufacturing facility in Evans, outside Augusta.
“My deepest condolences and thoughts go out to his family, friends and everyone affected by this loss,” Crabb Kerr said, according to WSB-TV. “We are working with authorities and contractors to conduct an investigation to determine the facts surrounding the cause of the incident.”
Her colleague, Fayzusha Smith, told NBC News When Drinkard first dropped the earbuds under his belt, Smith said he would buy them when it was safe, but Drinkard replied he would just buy new ones.
Shortly afterward, Smith said he saw his colleague’s arm, bent and beginning to bleed profusely, captured by the machine.
“It was a little traumatizing to see her like that,” Smith told the magazine.
She remembered Drinkard as someone who was “always very kind.”
“She always had a smile on her face,” Smith said.
