A longtime, beloved employee of the Philadelphia Zoo died after a golf cart fell on top of him while he was working Monday morning.
Jim Borger was the zoo's mechanic who maintained the fleet of golf carts. He was working alone in a garage, co-worker Michelle Jamison said.
"The golf cart, from what I've been told, was up on a lift and somehow fell on him," said Jamison, who is also a union health and safety representative at the zoo.
When Borger did not show up to a regular 10 a.m. meeting, his boss sent someone over to the garage to check on him. They found him pinned under the cart.
Borger, 59, was rushed to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and pronounced dead just before noon. Jamison said his death was very upsetting, especially for people who knew and worked with the father of three.
"Beautiful person. The nicest man you'd ever want to meet," Jamison said. "I've met his wife. I've met his children. He has a beautiful family. My heart is broken."
Dana Lombardo, Director of Communications for the zoo, said Borger was a "great friend and well-respected colleague. He was a big part of our zoo family," she said. "It's a very sad day here. He will be missed terribly."
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Grief counselors are being made available for zoo staff.
Lombardo said as far as anyone she'd spoke with could recall, it may be the first time a worker had died on the job at the Philadelphia Zoo.
