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Oakwood man charged with
child molestation.
INSIDE, 3A
Sunday, February 19, 2023 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com
6 fatally shot in small Mississippi
town; suspect in custody.
INSIDE, 4A
Honestly Local
Nitrogen leak survivors settle lawsuit
2021 incident at Gainesville poultry plant killed six and sent 12 to hospital
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
The lawsuit filed by three co-workers
who survived the Foundation Food
Group liquid nitrogen leak was settled
before a hearing about alleged discov
ery abuses by the defendants, according
to court documents.
Jason Adams, Cristian Faur and Ryan
Cook were among the workers at the
Memorial Park Drive plant when the
deadly leak happened Jan. 28,2021.
Six people were killed and 12 people
were transported to Northeast Georgia
Medical Center.
Attorney Matt Cook filed the lawsuit
against Messer Gas LLC, the company
that installed the liquid nitrogen immer
sion spiral freezer at the plant.
The “bubbler tube,” which is used to
detect when the liquid nitrogen might
overflow, was found damaged and
displaced, and a support bracket was
missing.
Cook said the three men tried to help
rescue people from the leak, leading to
mental and physical pain and suffering.
The terms of the settlement were not
disclosed.
During the two years of legal battles
stemming from the leak, a second
damaged bubbler tube was found in
another plant in Stillmore, Georgia. A
Messer employee sent a photo of it to his
superior, but the second tube was not
preserved.
Cook said he and his firm have con
tinued to pursue “who knew about the
destroyed evidence, when they knew
and what they knew. ”
The Gainesville attorney later
received another 21,000 documents that
had not been seen for two years.
Gwinnett County State Court Judge
Emily Brantley and other judges presid
ing over the case have issued sanctions
■ Please see LAWSUIT, 3A
Hall County
Firefighters
gather outside
Friday, Jan.
29, 2021, at
Foundation
Food Group
before entering
a door near a
loading dock.
SCOTT ROGERS I
The Times
‘I’m a new man’
South Hall
Bill Mayfield and son Chad visit Tuesday, Feb. 14, at a Dawsonville hotel while visiting North Georgia.
SCOn ROGERS I The Times
Minn, man undergoes first NGHS robotic heart surgery
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
In the lobby of the Dawson
ville hotel, Bill Mayfield gave
an emotional hug to his son,
saying “He’s my lifesaver.”
Such words probably were
never truer for the Minnesota
man, as he relayed a story
of going from healthy speci
men to barely breathing while
hiking Tallulah Gorge in the
North Georgia mountains in
January with son Chad.
Mayfield would go on to
seek medical help at North
east Georgia Medical Center
Gainesville, and that would
lead to him undergoing North
east Georgia Health System’s
first robotic heart surgery on
Feb. 7.
“I’m a new man since (sur
gery) happened. There’s no
doubt about that, ” he said in an
interview Tuesday, Feb. 14, at
Holiday Inn Express & Suites,
where he stayed before leav
ing for home the next day.
“The surgery went so well
that Bill was able to leave the
hospital just two days after the
surgery,” said Dr. T. Sloane
Guy, a robotic heart surgeon
and the director of Minimally
Invasive and Robotic Heart
Surgery at Northeast Georgia
Physicians Group.
Georgia Heart Institute’s
surgeons at NGPG Cardiovas
cular & Thoracic Surgery are
now offering minimally inva
sive, robotic heart surgery, giv
ing patients in the area more
access to the much-needed,
groundbreaking procedures.
Robotic heart surgery has
several benefits, including tiny
incisions and faster recovery
times, the hospital says.
“What really matters is the
outcome of the operation and
how quickly (patients) recover,
and those things are gener
ally excellent,” said Guy, who
served two tours in Afghani
stan as an Army chief surgeon
and joined the hospital in Janu
ary as its first robotic heart
surgeon,
He has a website, roboti-
cheartsurgeon.com, that gives
thorough information about
the procedure.
As for what patients are
good candidates, “my decision
making is based on the same
priorities that yours likely are
or should be,” Guy says on the
site.
Top of his list is whether the
patient can “survive the proce
dure with the least chance of
major complications.”
Dr. Clifton Hastings, medi
cal director of NGPG Cardio
vascular & Thoracic Surgery,
said, “Whether the surgery
is done using a minimally
invasive approach or an open
approach, our primary goal
is providing the best possible
treatment plan and outcome
for each individual patient.
“We’re collaborating with
the cardiologists of Georgia
Heart Institute to coordinate
care across specialties, provid
ing patients a more seamless
patient experience.”
Mayfield’s ordeal began
simply enough — traveling
to Georgia with wife Karen
to visit his son. Knowing that
Chad enjoys hiking, he decided
to prepare for the trip.
“I was running on the tread
mill,” said the 64-year-old. “I
ran for a mile at 5 mph and
thought, ‘Man, I’m in good
shape. I’m ready for this.’”
Mayfield said he hiked OK
the first day, but on the second
day, he was out of breath strug
gling to keep up. “I could go
about 100 yards and that was
all she wrote,” he said.
He used an inhaler to try
to fix the problem, thinking
the “air was different here or
something.”
That didn’t take, so Mayfield
went to an urgent care center
in Dahlonega, where a staff
worker detected a heart mur
mur. “Do you want to take an
ambulance to Gainesville or do
you want to drive?” she asked.
His son drove him to North
east Georgia Medical Center’s
emergency room. He was
then admitted for tests, which
revealed he had a faulty heart
valve.
“In turn, it was filling my
lungs with fluid,” Mayfield
said. “I literally felt like some
one was sitting on my chest. I
couldn’t breathe and my chest
hurt so ridiculously bad. I don’t
go to the doctor for anything
... but I have to be honest, I
thought by morning I would be
dead.”
■ Please see HEART, 4A
Public meeting set on Ga. 365 study
SCOTT ROGERS I The Times
Traffic moves along Ga. 365 Monday, May 16, 2022.
BY JEFF GILL
jgiii
@gainesvilletimes.com
A public meeting on a
study of Ga. 365 traffic is set
for March 1 at the Georgia
Department of Transporta
tion office in Gainesville.
The meeting’s purpose is
to inform the public of the
study and “to solicit feedback
that will be used in develop
ing recommendations,” said
GDOT transportation planner
Jomar Pastorelle in a letter to
area government officials.
The purpose of the study
“is to analyze travel condi
tions on (State Route) 365
between 1-985 and Belton
Bridge Road and develop
recommendations to accom
modate future travel growth.
The meeting, set for 4-7
p.m. at 1475 Jesse Jewell
Parkway, Building 2, Suite
100, will be an “open house”
format in which residents can
drop by at any time and dis
cuss the study with officials.
GDOT public
meeting
What: The Georgia
Department of
Transportation is seeking
input on a study of Ga.
365
When: 4-7 p.m. March 1
Where: 1475 Jesse Jewell
Parkway, Building 2, Suite
100
GDOT announced in May
2022 it would be conducting
the study with an estimated
completion in summer 2024.
The study came out of
“conversations with Hall
County representatives,
■ Please see STUDY, 3A
man out of
running for
Braves job
BY BRIAN WELLMEIER
bwellmeier@gainesvilletimes.com
Atlanta Braves fans won’t be hearing Flowery
Branch resident Cary Clayborn at home games
this year.
Clayborn, one of 12 candidates for the job of
public address announcer, wasn’t on the list of
three finalists when the Braves released the
names earlier this month.
“My journey toward the PA booth for the
Braves at Truist Park has ended,” Clayborn
said. “It made for a fun January-February. .1
want to thank the Atlanta Braves for a crazy
ride and an awesome opportunity.”
Over the last few weeks, Clayborn, 46, said
the prospect of being chosen for the job went
from something of a dream to a reality he
became more determined to achieve.
“Somewhere about two weeks in, I definitely
crossed over from ‘this is all pretty cool’ to ‘I
want this real bad,”’ Clayborn said. “Apparently
they received almost 300 online applications..
then had almost 600 fans show up to audition at
Braves Fest. And I made it to the Top 12. As
one of my clients put it so well...my name is
now on a list that it was not on before, so that’s
something.”
Still, Clayborn went on to say, he believes he
■ Please see BRAVES, 3A
Upscale women’s
boutique coming to
Gainesville square
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvllletlmes.com
An upscale women’s clothing store is coming
to Gainesville Renaissance on the downtown
square.
Monkee’s Boutique is the latest business to join
the row of retail shops in the multi-use develop
ment at 106 Spring St.
The store will offer “a curated selection of top
designers and brands to provide the best cloth
ing, shoes and accessories,” according to a press
release Friday, Feb. 17.
“We intend to bring the same outstanding
selection and customer service to the square in
Gainesville that our customers experience in
Atlanta, and we will strive to develop long stand
ing relationships with our customers and the
community,” owner Elizabeth Huber said.
Huber, who owns the Monkee’s franchise in
Atlanta, said the store may open in late August.
“The plan for hiring is to have a manager, sev
eral full-time sales associates, as well as some
■ Please see BOUTIQUE, 3A
Elizabeth
Huber is
opening
Monkee’s
Boutique at
Gainesville
Renaissance.
Submitted photo
