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Father Of Two Fighting For His Life After Freeway Bridge Collapse

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One of the nine construction workers who were injured when a freeway bridge in Corona partially collapsed on Friday is fighting for his life.

Jarrell Boyd, a 33-year-old father to two sons, was among those injured Friday night while working on construction of a 91 Freeway on-ramp above East Grand Boulevard, The Press Enterprise reports. Crews were lowering the 118-foot-long, 750-ton slab of the on-ramp, but it suddenly collapsed onto the temporary wooden support beams, which snapped. The beams then fell onto the workers below.

Boyd's fiancee Kendra Santos told The Press Enterprise that he is suffering from a broken shoulder, neck and femur. Doctors also had to drill a hole in his skull due to the swelling.

"The doctor has said this morning that his head injury were very bad," Ann Boyd, Jarell Boyd's mother, told CBS Los Angeles. "His brain is still swollen and he may not make it from the head injury."

Three other men were initially reported to be critically injured, but there have not been any updates on their conditions yet. Seven workers in total were sent to the hospital after the bridge collapse.

Caltrans and OSHA is investigating the cause of the collapse. The construction on the 91 Freeway expansion project had been halted since Friday, but is expected to resume this morning. However, the method the crew used to lower the bridge is suspended until the investigation is complete, though it's not how clear how long that investigation will take.

"At this point, we’ll take whatever time is necessary to learn what we need from what happened," John Standiford, deputy director of the Riverside County Transportation Commission, told The Press Enterprise. "Safety is way too important to cut corners."

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Santos told NBC Los Angeles that Boyd is her boyfriend of 11 years and has been a caring father of his two boys, one of whom she is the mother to. "He's a great dad," Santos said. "He's an amazing person. He has a big heart."

Ann Boyd told CBS Los Angeles that Jarell Boyd is her only child. "My insides are like jelly," she said, while crying.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise money for Boyd's family.

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