Kelly was utilizing a heavy riveting gun when he slipped and misplaced his footing, plunging fifty five metres to your harbour under. Other workers seemed on, surprised, as Kelly, a seasoned diver, turned a somersault and steadied his physique to enter the h2o ft first, ahead of surfacing and swimming to safety.

On the gantry currently being decreased down, Killen saw the fall. He jumped in and supported Kelly until eventually a rescue boat arrived.

Killen would just take Michael and his older brother, Steve, and occasionally his younger siblings and cousins out fishing.

Vincent Kelly, aged 31, experienced a miraculous escape from Loss of life yesterday, when he overbalanced whilst engaged on the deck on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and toppled to the harbour a hundred and seventy ft. under. He turned a number of somersaults in his fall by way of Area, and

"I do think this story is very important to keep in mind mainly because it's just this sort of a good looking encapsulation to me of this type of Australian identity," his excellent-granddaughter Liz Killen claims.

In advance of the construction in the Sydney Harbour Bridge, crossing the harbor was a demanding endeavor. The key suggests of transportation was by boat, which can be treacherous from time to time.

Though smaller sized to medium-sized cruise ships can navigate underneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge with its 49-meter clearance, more substantial ships may experience limits, Specifically through higher tide if the clearance is lessened.

"It was not until I was more mature and began reading a bit more about the bridge construction which i realised that no-one else realized that Tale," Liz vincent kelly sydney harbour bridge Killen claims.

With somewhere around six million rivets, the Sydney Harbour Bridge features a lot more rivets than you can find men and women in Sydney, representing the intricate craftsmanship required to construct this engineering marvel.

“Vincent Kelly, aged 31, had a miraculous escape from Dying yesterday when he overbalanced even though working on the deck of Sydney Harbour Bridge, and toppled in the harbour 170ft under. He turned several somersaults in his fall via House, and disappeared within the harbour toes initial. George Killen, a rigger of Clovelly highway, Clovelly, who was descending within a cage, dived overboard straight away.

As a consequence of safety worries and to shield the bridge’s integrity, cruise ship operators must very carefully look at the top of their vessels just before aiming to go underneath the bridge.

Kelly was also a seasoned diver and was capable of place his entire body in order that he landed feet initial. Other workers appeared on in amazement as Kelly turned a somersault and steadied his system to enter the h2o ft very first, prior to surfacing and swimming to safety.

The irregular foreshores of the harbor lengthen in excess of a hundred and fifty miles, supplying comprehensive docking amenities and contributing to the colourful maritime character of Sydney.

Killen's actions usually are not inside the background books or maybe the museums — most certainly mainly because he under no circumstances spoke of it — not even mentioning The bizarre change his workday took to his wife, Margaret, when he bought household that day.

"If there was something to get finished, he would tell you how to get it done. I do not at any time keep in mind him laughing, you recognize, so he was pretty a serious gentleman," Michael Killen claims.

He also found an post while in the Argus newspaper about Kelly's tumble and rescue — one of the handful of data that mentions Killen.