'Wall of people' say goodbye to Gabriel Cabral. Hamilton worker died after Stelco incident: family

Before he died on May 16after a workplace incident,Gabriel Cabral was leading a very full life.

The 32-year-old would often be out the door of the Stoney Creek home he shared with his mom and younger brother before 4 a.m., so he could fit in a gym workout before work. Then it was off to Nanticoke in Norfolk County, about an hour's drive away,where hewas a sheet metal worker at Stelco's Lake Erie Works.

After a physically taxing day, he'd relax at one of his favourite fishing holes on the Grand River, trying to snag some pickerel or bass. Then he'd head home, where he'd often sneak in another workout before going to bed, according to his family.

"He was obsessive about the things that he liked," said brother Shane, 30. "I tried doing the 4 a.m. gym thing with him and it was insane. I would be so tired and he would be just telling me to hurry up and already on his way out before I was halfway done."

His mother Pam Fraser says she often worried about his safety on the job, but he would assure her that he was looking out for himself, and she knew he was also the type to look out for others.

"He wasn't afraid to call people out" if they weren't doing things by the book, Fraser told CBC Hamilton. "He wasn't afraid to say 'no'."

Gabriel did not return tohome which he also shared with the family's beloved Wheaten terrier Sadie after work on April 25.

That day, according to his family, he was burned so badly at work that his family says about 70 per cent of his body was damaged, mostly third and fourth-degree burns.

After fighting for his life for three weeks at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, he died on May 16. His funeral was held this past week, on May 24,at Bay Gardens on the Hamilton Mountain.

The Ministry of Labour is investigating what happened, and has already issued some corrective orders to Stelco and John Kenyon Ltd., the sheet metal contractor that was Gabriel's direct employer.

Shane says he doesn't want to make assumptions about what happened at Stelco, but says it's still hard to believe that his brother went to work one day and simply didn't come home.

"I know that it shouldn't have happened," he said.

Co-workeralso injured that day

Ontario's Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development says two workers were burned at StelcoinNanticoke that day. Gabriel's family has identified the other as his partner on the job, Sean MacPherson, saying the two were burned by steam while repairing steel cladding on a quench tower, a structure used for cooling hot coke used in the steelmaking process.

"On May 16, 2023, the ministry was notified that one of the injured workers passed away," wrote spokesperson Jennifer Rushby in an email. "Our thoughts are with the family, friends and colleagues of this worker."

Rushby said that as of Friday, the ministry had issued "two orders and four requirements" to Kenyon, Gabriel's employer, and one order to Stelco but did not provide further details.

CBC contacted Stelcofor comment but did not hear back. When reached by phone, someone at Kenyon said the company would not be providing a comment.

'We were really starting to think of the future'

In addition to Fraser, Shane and brother Matt, 26, Gabriel also leaves behind his girlfriend Sarah. Fraser says with Sarah,she had thought her son had finally found the one.

He also leaves a huge crew of friends. The family says they were overwhelmed by the number of people who showed up at his funeral.

"Turning the corner, when we were walking into the chapel, it was just like a wall of people," said Shane. "It was just so emotional."

Matt called the past month a "roller coaster," explaining the family went from thinking Gabriel would die soon after the workplace incident, to getting their hopes up that he was pushing through, after he exceeded initial expectations of how long he might live.

"As we got a week past, and two weeks passed, we were really starting to think of the future," he said, noting the family had begun discussing how they would help Gabriel rehabilitate once he got out of the hospital.

Shane said the family is left with a lot of grief and a confusing maze of ministry and Workers Safety and Insurance Board proceedings that they don't understand. He said they've had a hard time finding help navigating the process and are looking for guidance, but don't know where to start.

Fraser said she feels "numb." Shane likens it to having been suddenly transported to a different universe where Gabriel no longer exists.

"It feels like we switched our reality," he said. "Now we're just floating somewhere before we get back to real life."