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Family Grieving Over Tragic Oilfield Death

A dozen family members were grieving the loss of 25-year-old Jerman Caballero Tuesday afternoon. His wife tells NewsWest 9 that she was on her way to surprise him when she got the devastating news.
By Kim Powell
NewsWest 9

KERMIT - A dozen family members were grieving the loss of 25-year-old Jerman Caballero Tuesday afternoon. His wife tells NewsWest 9 that she was on her way to surprise him when she got the devastating news. "I go to surprise him and I get the surprise," Brianna Quiroz said as she began to cry.

Quiroz said she was on her way to Carlsbad where Caballero was working on an oil rig--he had forgotten his wallet at home. After a few hours of not hearing from him, she began to worry.

"Nobody would answer me then the phones were turned off, and then like around 10:11pm, I get a phone call from a sheriff," Quiroz began to explain.

That's when she learned that her husband of two years was killed when a piece of steel pipe fell while removing it out of a well. His brother-in-law says that Caballero had been working in the oilfield for the last six years to support his family, which just grew even bigger with the birth of their new son.

"To do what he was doing or wanting to with his family, the work, he put up with it and it's sad to say that's what took him away from us was the work," Dimas Quiroz said.

His family says he was a great father and adored his 7-month old son and 2-year-old daughter. They say he was always trying to better himself for the people around him, even if it meant being hours away from home at times.

His brother-in-law hopes that other families of oil workers won't have to go through a tragedy like this one.

"Anybody that has experienced any oilfield accident, I'm terribly sorry for them because it is something that I never want to experience again," Dimas said.

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