2 Workers Died While on the Job. Now Their Families Are Seeking Answers: 'Do the Right Thing'
Ronald Silver II died of heatstroke in August, while Timothy Cartwell died Monday, Nov. 11
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Two families are looking for answers after their loved ones died while they were working for the city of Baltimore.
The families of Ronald Silver II and Timothy Cartwell, employees of Baltimore’s Department of Public Works (DPW), are asking for accountability from the city after Silver died from heat stroke in August and Cartwell died in an accident on Monday, Nov. 11, according to CBS affiliate WJZ-TV.
"We need for you to step up, do what's right, fix what needs to be fixed," Shantae Carroll, Cartwell’s sister-in-law said, referencing the city’s leaders. "Don't wait another second. Don't wait another minute. Don't wait another hour because we don't know the day or the hour that something can happen. Tragedy will come, and this will happen again."
Cartwell, a 17-year veteran of the department who worked as a waste collector assigned to the Reedbird Sanitation Yard, was working in a narrow alleyway on Nov. 11 when he was pinned between a garbage truck and a wooden light pole, The Baltimore Sun reported.
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He was transported to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center where he later died.
Silver died on Friday, Aug. 2, after collapsing along his route amid temperatures that approached record highs.
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The 36-year-old’s cause of death was hyperthermia, according to his autopsy obtained by the station.
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Silver’s and Cartwell’s families are mourning their deaths — and they are pressing the city for answers.
"They are still out there trying to survive,” Silver’s father, Ronald Silver, told the WJZ about his late son’s co-workers. “They need their jobs. They have to be behind them too. Do the right thing for them. Make sure they have the proper water, supplies, air conditioning. Make the conditions better for them. Not only so they can provide for their family but so they can make it home."
Following Silver's death, workers’ complaints led to an investigation by the city's Office of the Inspector General which found numerous instances of inadequate and unsafe work conditions, according to ABC affiliate WMAR-TV.
A representative with the DPW did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.
For Carroll, remembering her brother-in-law means fighting for change.
"My brother-in-law was not just a trash man,” she said. “My brother-in-law was a man of courage, of good deed, of love, of support, of giving. He was kind. He was gentle, and he was a man that stood for what was right."
