Teen killed in sawmill accident becomes organ donor for his mom, Wisconsin family says
A 16-year-old who died in early July following an accident at a Wisconsin sawmill was known as a boy “loved by everyone,” family says.
The June 29 workplace accident and eventual death of Michael “Mikey” Schuls left the Florence, Wisconsin, community “in absolute shock,” according to details of a GoFundMe. He died two days after being pinned between machinery at Florence Hardwoods.
But his legacy, family members say, will live on. He became an organ donor for at least eight people, his mom among them, the GoFundMe says.
“Lucky enough his mom was the perfect match for his liver,” Mikey’s father, Jim Schuls, told WBAY. “And seven or eight other families received life. He delivered the miracle we prayed for for seven other families, including his mother. That’s what’s keeping me going.”
Michael attended Florence High School and was a four-sport athlete, playing football, basketball, baseball and soccer, an obituary states.
According to the obituary, he was “helpful thoughtful, humorous, selfless, hardworking, loving, and the absolute best son, brother, uncle, and friend.”
Kaden Schuls, one of Michael’s 10 siblings, said in a Facebook post he would “do anything to see” his little brother’s smirk again.
“You didn’t deserve this. I wish I could change places with you,” Kaden Shuls said. “It breaks my heart knowing the pain you had to go through. You’re just a kid. One who was loved by everyone who knew you.”
How did Michael Shuls die?
The Florence County Sheriff’s Office said the 16-year-old was hospitalized following the “industrial accident” at Florence Hardwoods on June 29.
Michael “was attempting to unjam a wood-stacking machine ... when the conveyor belt he was standing on moved and caused him to become pinned in the machine,” according to the Associated Press.
It was 17 minutes before Michael was found, the AP reported.
After suffering what family called “awful” injuries, Michael died two days later. His cause of death was listed as “traumatic asphyxia,” the Florence County Coroner told the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
“I can’t even put a word on it. He’s touched more people than I can ever imagine,” his father, who worked alongside Michael at the sawmill, told WBAY.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration and Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division are investigation the incident, the Press-Gazette reported. Florence Hardwoods, the publication reported, is “absolutely” cooperating in the investigations, a manger said.
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