Up until a few years ago, Justin was a highly skilled pipe technician and a team leader within the utilities industry. On the 28th October 2015, the decision to attend to a burst water main with a colleague proved to be one of life or death.

Whilst repairing a burst water main a miscommunication resulted in the mains water being switched on before the job had been completed,and the pressure of the water forced a torque wrench into Justin’s face at circa 80mph. Justin was knocked unconscious and was at the bottom of a hole which was rapidly filling with water.Fortunately he was wearing his hi-vis vest which meant he could be seen underwater, especially as a street light was directly above the hole. Whilst still unconscious his colleague got into the hole and dragged him out, and by chance a local resident who worked for St.Johns Ambulance was able to stabilise him until help arrived.

After undergoing numerous operations in a specialist hospital, Justin lost all vision in his right eye. But more devastating news was to follow when the Surgeon informed him that due to the severity of his head injury, it would be inevitable that he would get an infection and was likely to live for no more than 4 years. Justin chose to undergo an operation that carried a 50% risk of fatality .

During his convalescence, Justin returned to his old depot to give a talk to his former teammates, recounting the accident and talking about his road to recovery. The prospect of not returning to work was a daunting reality and doctors’ orders meant that he could not resume his previous role. Despite 15 years’ experience on the job, Justin stressed the need to be prepared for an unexpected event and know exactly how to react to protect yourself and those around you. His talk had a huge impact on his colleagues. Both Justin and the management team felt that if he could reach a larger audience, Justin could help even more colleagues understand the importance of workplace safety , and mental well-being . And so, in 2019 Justin decided to start up his own public speaking business in the hopes that he could help prevent something like this happening again. Justin has gone to win two awards for his hard hitting presentation The Construction Excellence Award and the Chairmans Award for the future water awards . Justin pushes himself well out of his comfort zone at every presentation in hopes of getting his message out there.