Retired nurse who died falling down manhole in Storm Isha was 'selfless person'
Tributes have been paid to a "selfless" retired nurse who died in Storm Isha when he fell down an exposed manhole on his way home from a pub, as winds blew away safety barriers.
Father-of-two Andrew Barker, 56, was found in a hole dug by gas engineers on Monday morning in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Emergency services were called to Highgate Road in the city at around 7.20am after reports of a 'concern for safety', but Andrew was tragically pronounced dead at the scene. Barriers around the danger had been blown away by Storm Isha, leaving it exposed.
Lifelong friend Richard Elliot said of Andrew: “He was the life and soul around anyone, everyone and everywhere he touched and was present. "You meet very few people in your life who mean so much to you. Andy was this person to me, a funnier person you could not meet. A real character for sure.
"We went to Sweden for my 50th, it was probably one of the best times we had together, we completed the Surströmming challenge, without him there it would have been nothing. We travelled the country watching Bradford Bulls with Lee, my dad, and Brian, sometimes attending the cup final after parties - he always found a way in.
“He was always a passionate Man United fan and was a season ticket holder with his dad and brother in the past. He was highly intelligent, professional, charismatic, loving and - luckily for me - my best friend. I will miss him very much.”
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The scene of the accident in Bradford, West Yorkshire
Andrew with friends in Sweden (Richard Elliott / SWNS)Andrew is said to have recently retired from the NHS, where he started his career as a student nurse in Bradford. Later, he was a cancer nurse at Leeds General Infirmary, where he worked on new drug introduction. One of his daughters has followed in his footsteps after graduating as a nurse, while the other completed a degree at the University of Manchester.
Jonathan Waddington, chairman of Jer Lane Cricket Club, added: "We are so devastated to hear of Andy's passing in such tragic circumstances. Andy had a great dry sense of humour and was always willing to do what he could to support the club.
“We are indebted to him for many hours of dedication as well as lots of laughs and his passing will be very hard to take for some of our long-serving members and players. He was a great guy, he supported all our charity events, often running the barbeque, raffles. He couldn’t do enough, he was that sort of person, a very selfless person.”
He called for a full investigation into the accident and added people who could have prevented his friend's death should be "held to account if mistakes have been made". West Yorkshire Police said the death is not being treated as suspicious” and a file is being prepared for the coroner.
Russel Kaye, operations manager at Northern Gas Networks said : “We were made aware a body had been found at a Northern Gas Networks site on the Highgate Road in the Queensbury area of Bradford at 7.32am today (Monday 22 January). The safety of members of public and our engineers is our priority and we’re supporting West Yorkshire Police with their ongoing investigations.”
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