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Former UM football player Tim Bush dies in mining accident

SILVERTON, Idaho - A former All-American football player at the University of Montana died Friday of internal injuries from a rock fall in a Friday morning accident at Galena Mine near Silverton, Idaho.

Tim Bush, 29, was a contract employee at the underground silver mine. He was working with his cousin in an 8-by-8 foot mining stope when he was hit by a falling boulder, family members said. Bush had to be carried up a ladder before he could be taken to Shoshone Medical Center, where he died. His dad, Ken Bush, who works as a trainer at the Galena Mine, was by his side.

Bush was a standout wrestler and football player at Kellogg High School who went on to play football with the University of Montana Grizzlies as a defensive end. During his football career he was named an All-American and set two school records with 34 career sacks and 50 tackles for loss. Both records still stand.

"When he was playing football for the Griz, we would load up cars and head over there to watch his games. He got tickets from other players who didn't have family close by so that we could sit in the parents section," said his older sister, Tacey Keylon.

"He was always really humble about everything he won," she added.

Bush stood 6-foot-3-inches and weighed 245 pounds in college. He thought about teaching physical education or working in sports medicine, but he came back to the Silver Valley to be close to his family, Keylon said.

He lived in Pinehurst, within a ½ mile of his parents and two siblings. He started working as a contract employee at the Galena Mine about two years ago. Before then, he had worked at the Stillwater Mine in Montana, commuting back and forth.

"Tim never complained about anything," his sister said. "He liked to work hard...Tim was a family man. He has a son who's going to turn 1 in July. He was going to get married Sept. 4. He was planning a wedding with his finance."

The accident is under investigation by the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

The Galena Mine is owned by U.S. Silver Corp.

McNeese75 wrote:I'm not sure if it has been posted anywhere but the Griz's own JD Quinn was at the Campsite in Arkansas when the flash flood took the lives of 19 individuals

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/06/ ... 6551.shtml

J.D. Quinn, 24, from Garland, Texas (a friend of Mr Whatley's sons)

"We were sitting on the porch of a cabin that belonged to someone we knew, drinking beer, when we saw the water come in fast.

"We went round the front of the cabin to move the cars but by that point the water was already surrounding the house.

"The scariest part for me was when I sunk the truck in the mud and tried to kick it into four wheel drive then the headlights went out. But I was able to drive the truck out and get it to higher ground and then I called On Star [emergency system which can locate your position by GPS].

"Me and my best friend Matt Whatley put on our tennis shoes and started beating on cabin doors to wake people up. It was 3.30 in the morning and people were still sleeping. We got eight people out – including a State Trooper who was off duty, camping with his wife. I was up to my neck in water at one point.

"We didn't hear it coming and it wasn't a loud noise at first – then it was the sound of lumber being destroyed and trees ripping.

"We finally left after noon the next day when the first responders got there.

"We found one lady under a tree but couldn't do anything for her so we let the first responders help her.

"There are some things that nobody should see. I just tried to keep going."