Saskatoon company Carmont Construction fined $80,000 for death of 19-year-old Austyn Schenstead

Rebeccah Schenstead says that on the good days she can forget for a few seconds that her son is dead.

But then reality sets in.

The young man she gave birth to when she was 16, her first born, is not coming home.

"It is a close bond, having him young. We went through a lot of ups and downs, he was my rock," she said Thursday.

Austyn Schenstead had been working for Carmont Construction for a little more than three months when the accident happened in November 2016. The company is owned by his step-father's family.

According to an agreed statement of facts presented at provincial court, Schenstead and another worker were prepping to unload the concrete sound walls from the back of a truck.

The load of concrete walls had shifted in transit. As Schenstead worked to remove the wood braces securing the panels, one slipped off the truck and hit him in the head. It then knocked him to the ground and pinned his arm.

He died at the scene.

'My heart actually feels broken'

The company pleaded guilty in provincial court to a single charge under the Saskatchewan Employment Act to failing to protect the health and safety of its workers.

The fine and victim surcharge totalled $80,000.

Rebeccah Schenstead said she is not happy with the amount of the fine. She believes it should have been higher. She said the family was left in the dark about what exactly happened that morning and that silence from Carmont and Occupational Health and Safety only added to her family's distress.

"The whole reality is still hard to grasp," she said in her victim impact statement.

"My heart actually feels broken."

The lawyer for Carmont, John Agioritis, said in court that the company has since changed its practices to prevent similar accidents in the future.