Young demolition workers killed on Boxing Day.
A demolition crew member who was killed in a Boxing Day accident in Vernon Hills has been identified as 25-year-old Patrick O’Reilly, who grew up in southwest suburban Palos Park.
O’Reilly, who was a graduate of Stagg High School and the University of Illinois, his family said, was killed when he was struck by falling concrete when part of a wall collapsed at a demolition site late Thursday at Westfield Hawthorn Mall in the northern suburb.
O’Reilly had earned a degree from U of I in agricultural and consumer economics in 2010 but, unable to find a job in his field, had been working in demolition, said his uncle, Dr. William O’Reilly.
His family is “devastated” by the tragedy, the uncle said. “He loved life,” Dr. O’Reilly said. “He liked to make people laugh.”
The accident occurred at about 11 p.m. Thursday as a work crew was knocking down an exterior wall of a former Ruby Tuesday restaurant to make way for a new Maggiano’s Little Italy.
Workers were removing an outer layer of brick when concrete pieces fell from the top of the wall and hit three workers.
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