'He was calling for his mum': Last moments of tradie, 18, who was crushed in deadly scaffolding collapse are revealed - as his parents relive the worst day of their lives
- Heartbroken parents of the tradie crushed to death by scaffolding speaks out
- Christopher Cassaniti, 18, died in northwest Sydney around midday on April 1
- His workmate, 40, was rushed to hospital in a critical condition and is now stable
- Mrs Cassaniti said she 'just dropped everything' in order to get to the site
- His parents are now campaigning for Christopher's Law to be introduced
Christopher (pictured) and his colleague Khaled Wehbe had been working through the lunch break when the tragic incident happened
A tradie who was crushed after scaffolding fell on him at work was screaming for 20 minutes before he suffocated to death.
Christopher Cassaniti had celebrated his 18th birthday just days before he died on a construction site in Macquarie Park in northwest Sydney around midday on April 1.
Christopher and his colleague Khaled Wehbe had been working through their lunch break, and were the only two tradesmen underneath the scaffolding, when the huge pile of metal collapsed.
Mr Wehbe, 39, who survived the ordeal although he was seriously injured, had been trapped under the scaffolding just metres away from Christopher and had been clutching on to the teenager's hand until the very end.
Darren Greenfield, the NSW state secretary of Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), said Christopher was yelling for help.
'Asking for help, asking for him mum. It's very hard,' he told 60minutes.
Christopher's shattered parents Patrizia and Rob Cassaniti bravely relived the harrowing day in an interview with the programme on Sunday night.
Mrs Cassaniti, who served coffee at a mobile truck down the road, was on the site within minutes after the disaster and was told her son was trapped.
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'I just dropped everything. As I'm getting closer to the job site, I couldn't breathe. I'm alone in the car and I'm screaming,' Mrs Cassaniti said.
Not long after Mrs Cassaniti arrived at the building site she was approached by a police officer who delivered the devastating news.
Christopher's shattered parents Patrizia (pictured right) and Rob Cassaniti (pictured left) have now reminisced about the tragic day
Christopher Cassaniti (pictured alongside his parents) had celebrated his 18th birthday just days before he died while working as an apprentice on a construction site in Macquarie Park in northwest Sydney
'He knelt in front of me and his words, which I can't get out of my head, were, "Mrs Cassaniti unfortunately we couldn't do anything for your son. And he has passed away." And those words just keep ringing in my head constantly. And I was in total denial. I just screamed,' Mrs Cassaniti said.
Mrs Cassaniti later found out that Christopher had been in pain in his final moments.
She said his lungs had been crushed, meaning he wasn't able to breathe and he eventually passed away from 'asphyxiation'.
The coroner said that because Christopher 'had so much adrenaline' he may have felt some pain but he would've been intermittently in and out of consciousness because 'he wasn't able to breathe'.
But Mrs Cassaniti is convinced her son suffered in his dying moments regardless of whether or not he had adrenaline.
Christopher's parents are now campaigning for a new industrial manslaughter law to be introduced in the country which they want to aptly be titled 'Christopher's Law'.
Christopher Cassaniti (pictured), 18, died at Macquarie Park in north-west Sydney on April 1 when a 15-metre tower of scaffolding fell on top of him
Tragic: Christopher Cassaniti, 18, died in the collapse at Macquarie Park, north-west Sydney on Monday. He is pictured on holiday in Hawaii
Mr Greenfield described the aftermath of the scene as similar to a 'war zone'.
'I mean you see grown men crying, and you just think not again, not another one, not another person not going home tonight,' he said.
A harrowing video emerged from the scene showing frantic tradesmen trying to save their two trapped colleagues.
Amid the carnage a policeman (right) took a megaphone and said: 'Oi everybody, we need you guys to help us'
Blood-curdling screams echoed around the building site as tradesmen in hard hats and high-vis jackets rushed to free the men.
They were desperate to help but police held them back, fearing that dislodging just one piece of steel would cause tonnes of twisted metal and concrete to collapse further and crush the men to death.
'You're wasting time. We need access,' a tradesman can be heard shrieking in mobile phone footage which showed a policewoman ushering the workers back.
Amid the screaming and shouting a policeman said into a megaphone: 'Oi everybody, we need you guys to help us,' before he lowered the device because his radio interfered.
The construction site at Macquarie Park is now empty while an investigation into the incident is underway.
A policeman (pictured) approached the agitated men and said: 'If you move one piece the whole thing may collapse. It's like a jigsaw puzzle'
Union bosses believe that human error was the most likely cause.
CFMEU national secretary Dave Noonan hinted that the scaffolding was either not put up properly or overloaded.
He told Daily Mail Australia: 'When scaffolding is used and erected correctly according to specifications, properly maintained and the ties are left in, and it's loaded only in accordance with the safe working loads that are appropriate to its design, then it doesn't fall down.
'Somewhere in that chain, something has gone wrong.'
Last year the safety watchdog issued 100 notices for breaches of scaffold safety rules amid fears developers were riding roughshod over regulations in order to meet tight deadlines during Sydney's building boom.
During visits to 1,000 construction sites in the year to November 2018, regulators issued $265,000 worth of fines for various safety breaches.
The firm which erected the scaffolding at Macquaire Park, Synergy Scaffolding Services, said safety of workers is paramount.
'We adhere to all safety regulations, ensure all staff are suitably qualified and undergo specific training and inductions,' it said in a statement.
'We are empty and devastated by the loss of our beautiful boy': Christopher Cassaniti's family statement
'We feel devastated and empty by the loss of our beautiful boy Christopher.
'Christopher was a gentle, kind and hardworking young man full of life and love for his family. He was adored by everyone who was lucky enough to meet him.
'While nothing can bring our son back, we don't want his death to be just another statistic.
'No other family should have to go through this horrendous pain.
'We ask that the government step in and take immediate action and implement stringent measures regarding safety on construction sites.
'Crucial safety checks and procedures need to be at the front and centre of every construction site.
'We await the outcome of the investigation as to what went wrong.
'We will miss him dearly. One death is too many.
'We would please ask that the media now leave us in peace to deal with our loss.'
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