SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO-AM) As difficult as it is, the father of Ethan McMahon, killed in the building collapse in downtown Sioux Falls, is now talking publically about the tragedy.
"When they brought him out of the rubble, they turned the camera off and let me come up there to get him and say goodbye," Ethan's father, John McMahon, tells KSFY-TV, choking back tears, "First thing I told him was I got the kids,....I'll watch them."
John says a co-worker last Friday told him there had been a building collapse in downtown and when she showed him a picture, he knew it was the building Ethan and his brother were working in. His brother escaped.
"I knew where he was in the building, he was right in the center, so I just knew he wasn't going to make it. You can't survive that," recalls John.
The family has a tragic memento from the building collapse: the hammer Ethan was using when he was killed. He still had it clutched in his hand when his body was found. A rescue worker gave the hammer to his dad.
(KSFY-TV contributed to this report)