Ryan Carlos Vargas was the "heart of his home," according to a friend
Credit: GoFundMe
NEED TO KNOW
- Ryan Carlos Vargas, a 21-year-old Texas man, died after being electrocuted in a freak workplace accident
- Vargas put “family first,” and “stepped up to support his mother after losing his father at just 16 years old,” per a GoFundMe established for Vargas’ mother
- He is remembered by loved ones as being the “heart of his home”
A 21-year-old man died after being electrocuted during a freak accident at work, leaving his widowed mother without family or financial support.
Ryan Carlos Vargas was hit by an electrical arc flash while working on power lines in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 10. His official cause of death was accidental electrocution, according to public records from the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The incident involved Vargas and a fellow coworker, according to the Fort Worth Fire Department (FWFD), per WCJB. Both individuals were taken to a local hospital in critical condition, and Vargas tragically did not survive his injuries, according to the outlet.
FWFD did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on the incident.
Credit: Getty
Friends and loved ones of Vargas remember him as a solid friend and worker.
“We were just bragging about him. The day that it happened, we were talking to somebody else in the industry,” friend and coworker Christopher Ritzer said while speaking to WCJB.
“I was just bragging about him and what a quality individual and worker he was,” he added.
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Ritzer went on to say that Vargas’ mother is heartbroken over the loss of her only child.
“The first time I was able to get her on the phone after all of this … she said to me, ‘That’s my baby,’ ” Ritzer recalled.
Trey Lopez, another friend and coworker, remembered Vargas as “a good person,” and “a good friend."
“And he was going to be a great lineman. He was smart and he got it,” he added.
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Ritzer has since established a GoFundMe to help provide funds for Vargas’ mother, who he said relied on her son for financial support.
“Ryan Vargas was an only child who stepped up to support his mother after losing his father at just 16 years old,” Ritzer wrote on the fundraising page.
“He was the heart of his home, always putting his family first and working hard to make sure his mother was cared for,” he continued, adding that Vargas’ mother is now left “facing the unimaginable loss of both her husband and her son.”
“The funds raised will go directly toward covering funeral expenses and paying essential bills, helping to ease some of the burden during this incredibly difficult time,” Ritzer added.
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