Newport scaffolder falls through a hedge

Poleaxed! Moment tired scaffolder topples backwards through hedge as he struggles to keep hold of 21ft metal strut

  • Craig Whitehead, 31, said he had worked 18 days in a row so he could earn cash
  • He was carrying a 21ft scaffold pole which weighs 62lbs in Newport, Wales 
  • Mr Whitehead loses control of the long pole and falls backwards into a hedge

This is the moment a scaffolder falls backwards through a hedge while carrying a 21-ft long pole in the front of a customer’s house. 

The worker, named as Craig Whitehead, 31, from Newport, Wales was struggling with the 62lb steel pole after working 18 days in a row. 

His workmates started filming the incident outside a house in Newport when it appeared he wasn’t steady on his feet. 

Craig Whitehead, pictured, was carrying 21ft long scaffold poles into the front of a house in Newport, Wales

Mr Whitehead lost control of the pole and was pushed backwards through the hedge

Mr Whitehead lost control of the pole and was pushed backwards through the hedge

Fortunately Mr Whitehead was not injured as a result of the incident

Fortunately Mr Whitehead was not injured as a result of the incident 

Mr Whitehead placed the pole against the front of the house, but then moved it along the wall. 

However, when he got as far as the 6ft boundary box hedge, Mr Whitehead lost control of the heavy poll and was pushed backwards through the topiary. 

The video shows the pole pinning Mr Whitehead against the hedge. 

Mr Whitehead said he was working extra shift so he could earn more money so he would be able to move out of his mother’s house and buy a new car. 

Mr Whitehead was filmed by his friends Ross McCarthy and Aidan Rogers.

Craig Whitehead, pictured, said he was tired after working 18 days in a row

Craig Whitehead, pictured, said he was tired after working 18 days in a row

His friends start humming popular circus song, Julius Fucik’s Entry of the Gladiators, and laugh at his efforts.

He finally manages to get the pole straight when, off-camera, he appears to lose balance and stumbles towards a hedge while still carrying the pole.

Mr McCarthy can be heard off camera asking ‘Where’s he going? What are you doing now?’

Mr Whitehead said: ‘I had been working for 18 days straight as I’m saving money for a car and flat – I live at home with my mother currently.

‘It was around 11 in the morning and we had done a couple of jobs prior.

‘I just couldn’t lift it anymore and I fell over a little wall and that was it – I was in the bush.

‘I’m lucky the bush was there to lower me down so I didn’t hurt myself.

‘It was flattened so I had to pick it up so no one saw.’

He had been working all morning when he found he couldn’t carry the tall scaffolding pole any longer, and lost his balance.