Tree trimmer dies after he’s thrown 50 feet into creek, South Carolina coroner says

A routine tree-trimming job turned deadly in a South Carolina yard when a hydraulic lift flipped, throwing a worker nearly 50 feet, according to a coroner.

Daniel Christopher Brown Sr., 51, died at the scene, Anderson County Coroner Greg L. Shore said in a news release.

The incident happened around 1:50 p.m. Monday, Nov. 11, on Sunny Lane near Anderson, Shore says. The neighborhood of single-family homes is about a 130-mile drive northwest from Columbia.

Multiple agencies responded when a 911 caller reported a man had gone into cardiac arrest after he was “thrown from a cherry picker” into a nearby creek.

“EMS personnel attempted resuscitative efforts. The victim was non-responsive,” the coroner’s office said.

“The investigation indicates the victim was ... using a cherry picker to trim some limbs (and) the cherry picker overturned causing the victim to fall approximately 40-50 feet to the ground.”

Brown, who lives in Anderson, “sustained multiple traumatic injuries secondary to the fall,” the coroner’s office said.

His death has been ruled accidental, but an investigation is ongoing, officials said.

Brown is self employed and was under contract with a homeowner when the incident happened, the coroner’s office says.

This story was originally published November 22, 2024 at 8:26 AM with the headline "Tree trimmer dies after he’s thrown 50 feet into creek, South Carolina coroner says."