Laois man paralysed in roof fall helps new safety campaign
James Gorry has been paralysed since he fell 26 feet from a roof on a construction site. File image
A LAOIS man who was paralysed in a horrific workplace accident is featuring in a new national safety campaign.
James Gorry from Portarlington suffered life-changing injuries, when he fell 26 feet from a roof on a construction site.
Then the managing director of his own construction firm, he lost the use of his legs in the terrifying fall 21 years ago and has been in a wheelchair ever since.
While the accident was devastating, James eventually forged a new life through resilience, determination and courage. He is now a well-known motivational speaker, advocating for workplace safety, mental health and the importance of preventing life-changing tragedies.
Having appeared in previous campaigns, James plays a central role in a new construction safety drive for the Construction Industry Federation (CIF), which was launched this week.
The campaign comes at a time when construction has accounted for 40 percent of work-related deaths in Ireland so far this year.
For the campaign, James features in a short video in which he shares his story, running on CIF’s social media channels, in an effort to underline the critical importance of construction safety.
Running for two weeks from 12 to 23 October, the theme of the 2026 campaign is ‘Back to Basics’, highlighting the need to focus on everyday safety fundamentals to prevent accidents on construction sites.
James began his career in the workshop of Butler’s Engineering in Portarlington and trained as a welder/fabricator, before going on to form his own company ABS Construction & Shed Systems, employing 20 people and filling contracts in Ireland, England and Wales.
On that fateful day on 15 October 2005, he was asked to repair a damaged roof at a galvanising plant in Dublin. After the first stage was completed, he got back onto the roof for an inspection without safety equipment and slipped in the gutter, plunging to the ground below.
He was comatose in intensive care at Tallaght Hospital for three months, with injuries that included 14 broken ribs, lungs half-filled with blood and fractured vertebrae that pierced his spine.
Despite seven months of extensive treatment at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire, he had to accept that he would never walk again.
In time, his painful tragedy inspired him to pass on a message of awareness to others. Where possible, he tries to prevent other people from suffering his fate through high-impact safety talks and presentations.
The safety campaign is CIF’s flagship annual initiative to help protect the safety, health and welfare of workers in the industry.
According to figures from the Health and Safety Authority (HSA), there have been eight construction-related deaths so far this year, representing 40 per cent of the total number of recorded work-related fatalities. The 2026 figure is year-to-date only, compared with 11 construction-related fatalities in all of 2025 and five in 2024.
Falls from heights remain a significant contributor to construction-related fatalities, while incidents involving mobile plant and equipment are becoming more significant. Behind every fatality is a human tragedy, affecting not only individuals like James but also their families, friends and colleagues whose lives are changed forever.
During the campaign, the CIF is encouraging companies in Laois and across the country to review their safety management systems and ensure workers’ health and wellbeing receive the same priority as safety.
Recent analysis of 2022–2024 data by the Construction Safety Partnership Advisory Committee found that 95 percent of construction fatalities over this period involved experienced workers aged 35 and over, with 86 percent involving workers aged 35–64.
The analysis also found that 82 percent of reported deaths happened on sites employing four or fewer workers, compared with nine percent on sites employing 20 or more people.
