Author: By Tara Yaekel, Globe Correspondent Date: 06/08/2000 Page: B2 Section: Metro/Region[A PUBLISHED CORRECTION HAS BEEN ADDED TO THIS STORY.] In South Boston, they were known as the "three brothers," a father and twin sons so close they led nearly identical lives: all three laborers, all three workers on the Big Dig, all three natural athletes and loyal to their neighborhood.
But that bond forged over the years between Frank Shea Sr. and his sons, Derek and Frank Jr., was shattered in just moments.
On Tuesday afternoon, 26-year-old Frank Jr., known as "young Frank" to family and friends, was killed near a South Boston construction site when a tractor-trailer pinned him against a Jersey barrier as he walked back to work.
"He just had so much going for him," said his father, who was still stunned by the accident. "He was such an outgoing, loving kid. It hasn't really hit yet."
According to an official report, witnesses said Frank Shea Jr. was walking north on Dorchester Avenue after a lunch break when the truck, pulling out of a parking lot, turned too sharply, trapping Shea against the concrete barrier.
Police said the driver, who was not identified, told investigators he was driving at about 5 miles an hour, and did not see Shea near the wheels of the trailer as he turned.
Shea was rushed to New England Medical Center, but he died shortly before 2 p.m. He is the third worker to die on the job in the eight-year history of the Big Dig, though officials said the accident technically did not occur on a construction site.
Shea worked for CRC Concrete, a Big Dig subcontractor working on the Interstate 90 Fort Point Channel Crossing, which links the Turnpike Extension to the Ted Williams Tunnel.
Yesterday, family members and friends continued to mourn the loss of a young man they described as a skilled athlete who had just begun to make his way in life.
"Frank was just a shining example for a lot of the young people in South Boston," said state Senator Stephen Lynch, who is a friend of Frank Sr. "For a man his age, he accomplished a lot and was on a successful path."
Both Frank Jr. and his twin brother were accomplished boxers, boys who escaped trouble on the streets by working out in the neighborhood's athletic clubs. Boxing brought Frank much recognition: three national titles in the Junior Olympics and five New England Golden Gloves Championships.
As friends and neighbors telephoned and paid condolence visits to the grieving family, the Sheas said they have lingering questions about Frank Jr.'s death. A spokesman for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration said it is investigating the accident.
"Something had to go wrong - I work by that site every day," Derek said.
The last Big Dig death occurred last August, when Fook Choi Kan, a 56-year-old carpenter, fell 15 feet into a pit. Before that, steelworker John Fogerty lost his life in a March 1998 accident, also working in a pit. [CORRECTION - DATE: Friday, June 9, 2000: Correction: Because of a reporting error, a story in yesterday's Metro/Region section misidentified the Big Dig worker who died at a construction site in March 1998. He was John T. Hegarty of Dorchester.)
From the project's beginnings in 1992 to the end of November last year, there were 173 claims made against the project for workers injured on the job, Big Dig officials have said.
The Big Dig has spent millions of dollars to make its project safe, and its overall high safety record means it is due to receive millions in insurance credits years down the road, spokesman Sean O'Neill said.