Man killed on job site in northwest Calgary remembered as kind and compassionate
CBC
The man who died on the job in northwest Calgary on Thursday is being remembered as a compassionate, kind person who would do anything for the people he cared about.
On Thursday a 27-year-old man died after he was buried in a collapsed trench while doing sewer repairs in Charleswood. Crews worked for hours to be able to expose the trench.
He was identified Friday as Liam Johnston by his girlfriend Emily Gofton.
Gofton told CBC the two met at Mr. Mike's Plumbing, where she used to work. He had been working as an apprentice plumber.
"There's truly not one person that could walk this earth and say that they had a negative experience with him. He was the most compassionate, kind, generous, intellectual person that I've ever met in my entire life," Gofton said.
On Facebook, Gofton shared poetry Johnston had written to her, something she said wasn't uncommon.
"He knew exactly what to say to those that he loved and how to make them really feel that. If you had a chance to read that poem, it's almost like he wrote that for this exact moment," she said.
"He would do anything for the people he loves. He worked with those coworkers — for some of them for two to three years. Those are people that he loved, and he would do anything for their well-being."
Gofton said the two started dating in December, and that Johnston had moved to Calgary from Waterloo, Ont., with his best friend.
"This was the place that Liam loved. The only place that he loves more than Calgary would be his cottage back home," she said.
"Calgary was a place of opportunity for him. He loved the mountains. He loved being surrounded by the city."
Gofton said she wants to know why — and how — the incident happened.
She said Johnston texted her concerns about the job site throughout the day on Wednesday.
"The last message I have from him on Wednesday before he was coming home — we lived together — so before coming home to me he said, 'Tomorrow's going to be a rough day.' And I don't think he really knew how true that was," she said.
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