I work on the Melbourne metro tunnel both underground in the shaft and civil worksites,  am relatively new to the industry with only four years experience and was sitting three  rows from the front in your presentation this morning.  

Firstly, I would like to sincerely offer my deepest condolences for the passing and devastating loss  of both your brother and father. People say time heals wounds, but I believe when it comes to a  loss, our wounds never truly recover, we learn to cope with being wounded. How we decide to  deal with our wounds and how we move forward shape and define parts of who we are as people.  

My heart broke listening to you tell your story, of what you and your family have endured, and the  grief each of you have had to face. Even though to you, I am a complete stranger that has only  words to offer, I am a stranger to which you have influenced, and truly managed to make open her  eyes fully. Your story truly made me look at my own life, and you put into perspective with an  agonisingly honest, raw and brutal way that my story isn't exempt and that my ending could face a  similar fate.  

I always hear people say "it happened to a friend of a friend of a friend" regarding workplace  incidents. Your presentation brought what could happen home for me. Actually, Your presentation  brought it in the front door and to the dining table. Workplace injuries and fatalities to me now are  no longer hearsay of a friend of a friend or a story about someone I have never met. I heard first hand today how a life can be taken and left others torn apart and I heard it first hand; Though we  don't know each other, your story has had a very personal effect on me and has made that distant  "won't happen to me" naive voice in the back of my mind be accountable for what that means and  how I can ensure to the best of my ability that I do everything in my power each and every day in  pursuit of achieving "it not happening to me".  

I would like to tell you how incredibly brave I think you are, it's men such as yourself and  presentations such as your own that inspire the masses and without a shadow of a doubt be the  reason why many lives will be saved heading forward. You should be commended on how you  held yourself and how you told your story, on how you choose to educate others even though it  means standing up and exposing the most vulnerable parts of yourself. I could see and feel real pain as you spoke, and the realness and authenticity of your story could be seen and reached  every single person sitting in that shed.  

You said your just a regular bloke and that if you could save one life or change one person's  attitude on how they approach safety that you would be satisfied you had made a change by  telling your story. This morning you changed my life, intensified my attitude for safety and given  me a personal perspective for which I am wholeheartedly grateful for. I don't say any of this lightly.  I can't offer anything in return for the insight you have given me for I know this realisation came at  the greatest cost for you and your family.  

I will never forget what you told us all this morning. I will never forget the story of your brother, your  father and of the story you are still writing for yourself. They say one person is not enough to make  a real difference, fuck that. What you have created, how you have taken your pain and cultivated a way to educate and inspire others, is making a difference. A huge difference and will continue to  change the industry for the better. So when I hear people say that one person can't make a  difference, I'll tell them that I once met and heard a man tell his story and that with his strength he  changed the possible outcome of countless lives and that a difference was made in mine.  

It was a true privilege to have been able to attend your presentation Dallas, I am exceptionally  grateful for the point of view, realisation and perspective that I walked away with. If I am ever  unsure, or feeling slightly complacent or am scared to speak up I will think of you, your brother,  your father and the strength you were able to use in addressing us all today and I will make sure I  always make the safe decisions.  

Whysafetymatters- it matters to me because I want to go home each night and I want to return to  the job I love each morning and see the same faces from the shift before. I am so sorry your  brother and father never came home, I am so sorry there faces weren't at their Prestart the next  morning. I am just so sorry.

As I said, I have only words to offer you, it's not much I know, but they have come from the  deepest part of me that I know. Thank you for striking that chord in my heart and for bringing home  for the first time the realisation and understanding that I cannot rest and rely on the mentality that  "it won't happen to me". Your presentation was exactly what I needed to hear, what my workmates  needed to hear, and what each person in the industry should hear.  

I wish you and your family the very best moving forward, and I wish you all strength and resilience  to keep learning to cope with the wounds of loss. Nothing can replace what has been taken, but in  desperate and unbearably sad moments, I hope you can focus on and remember all the lives and  families you are saving. You said decisions cause a ripple effect...your presentation will ripple  across our entire industry.  

Thank you for giving me something that cannot be taught or told, but only felt.