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LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - Brad Livingston started running cross-country when he was a freshman in high school.

"I loved the sport," he said. "But the first thing I did when I got home was go into my closet and I grabbed my running shoes and threw them in the trash. I didn't want a reminder of the things I used to be able to do."

Speaker Brad Livingston, left, talks with Hilda Antoine after delivering a presentation in Fort Simpson on the importance of worker safety. - Andrew Livingstone/NNSL photo

Livingston spoke on Oct. 29 in Fort Simpson at the Health and Wellness Night hosted by Enbridge Pipelines (NW) Inc.

In 1991, Livingston was involved in two large explosions on the pipeline he was working on for a company in the United States. The first of two gas tanks exploded when his co-worker, Tracy, was welding a pinhole leak in the large container.

Livingston and Tracy had been told by another employee that the gas levels in the tank were safe for them to weld. Livingston wanted to check to make sure, Tracy didn't want to because they had a busy day ahead and they needed to save time.

"The time we spent arguing we could've checked the levels," he said. "He was my superior and had more experience on the job, so I went along with it."

The explosion could be heard from two miles away. Tracy was killed instantly.

"I couldn't tell you how high in the air the explosion launched me," he said. "When I landed on top of the other tank I couldn't believe that I was just involved in an explosion at work. This didn't happen to me, it happened to other people."

Before Livingston could pull himself from the tank, it exploded and launched him to the ground below.

Two farmers were near the scene and called for an ambulance. Livingston had second and third degree burns on 63 per cent of his body. They gave him a five per cent chance of survival.

It was a long road to recovery for Livingston. His wife and three daughters uprooted their lives in small-town Kansas and moved to San Antonio, Texas, where Livingston was going through rehabilitation. He spent 14 months in hospitals fighting every day to get back to normalcy. He was immobile for almost three months before he started rehab. He had lost most of the muscle and fat in his legs due to the burns he sustained. He was unable to walk or move his hands. He remembers the day he hit his breaking point.

"I went to see the physiotherapist and she asked me what was wrong and I told her I wanted to go home, I couldn't do this anymore," he said.

She came back with the hospital counsellor.

"Those women changed my perspective that day," he said. "I decided I didn't want to be depressed or a negative influence on the rest of my life. I started to set goals for my life and things I could achieve."

Seventeen years later, Livingston lives a normal life. He can't do everything he once was able to do, but he lives a positive life and uses his experiences to offer perspective on worker safety.

"I don't know why I decided it was OK to go along with something I thought was an unsafe bet," he said. "Any time you don't take the time to do a job properly, it's just a shortcut to save time or a buck.

"It only takes a second to change your life forever."

Livingston is the first in a series of speakers that Enbridge plans to host on a yearly basis. After an approximately five-year break from having speakers Enbridge has decided to revive the practice, said Ann Marie Tout, the manager of Enbridge Pipelines (NW) Inc.

"It's because safety's so important," Tout said.

Speakers are a way to enforce the importance of safety by using a different perspective, she said. Although Enbridge primarily directs the message to their staff the company also makes the presenters available to the wider community.

"No matter where someone works there's always a risk," said Tout.