With pins and rods holding his right leg as it heals, Bob Jackman throws out the first pitch to his grandson, Vohn Sahli, on Wednesday at Concordia at Cabot. To his left is his daughter, Colleen Sahli, and to his right is Little League coach Jeff Stull. Jackman was severely injured in a ditch cave-in on April 14 and is recovering at the nursing home in Jefferson Township.

JEFFERSON TWP — One month after a plumbing accident almost cost him his life, a Butler man was happy to be surrounded by friends and family as he watched his 7-year-old grandson play baseball.

Bob Jackman was able to see his grandson, Vohn Sahli, play a Saxonburg Little League game Wednesday evening thanks to the kindness of members of the community who arranged to have the game moved to the diamond at Concordia at Cabot nursing home where he is rehabilitating.

The accident happened on April 14 at a house in Fox Chapel.

“I'm a plumbing contractor. I had a ditch open, was doing some repairs and the ditch fell in on me,” Jackman said.

One of Jackman's employees was nearby and tried to help him get out from underneath the dirt. When he returned with additional help, Jackman had climbed out by himself.

He was rushed to University of Pittsburgh Medical Center hospital where he spent nine days in the intensive care unit hooked up to a ventilator, during which he was heavily sedated, said his wife, Linda Jackman.

As a result of the cave- in, one of Jackman's lungs was collapsed, while the other was partially collapsed, 15 of his 16 ribs were broken, his claviclewas broken and dislocated, his sternum was broken, his tibia was shattered and his leg had compartment syndrome — a condition resulting from too much pressure on muscles.

After three weeks total in the hospital, he was transferred to Concordia, which does in-patient rehabilitation in addition to retirement housing and nursing care.

Jackman said he is comfortable at Concordia, where he is doing physical therapy and recovering, though he doesn't know how long it will be until he can go home.

Having the Little League game brought to him came as a pleasant surprise.

“I was pretty touched. I didn't think they'd do all that. It's a lot of people that care a lot about me,” he said.

The idea to move the game to Concordia so Jackman could watch originally came from Christie Nicolazzo, the mother of one of Vohn's teammates.

Typically the teams would play at SEBCO Park, about a mile away, while the tee-ball teams play at the field near Concordia.Nicolazzo said she posed the idea to the coach of the Scrapers Jeff Stull, who contacted the coach of the opposing team, Jeff Mullen, and the person in charge of scheduling for Saxonburg Little League, all of whom were instantly supportive of having the teams swap fields.“When I told everybody on the team, they thought it was a great idea,” Stull said. “We're like a big family here.Colleen Sahli, Jackman's daughter and Vohn's mother, said the gesture meant a lot.“I thought it was wonderful. The whole community is so kind and so thoughtful. The whole experience with my dad has given me a new look on people's kindness and a new hope for humanity,” Sahli said.After the teams went out onto the field to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, Mullen, who is also a friend of Jackman's introduced him to the players as “my friend Bob” before he threw out a ceremonial first pitch to Vohn, who was behind the plate wearing catcher's gear.The rain stayed away for a few hours and Jackman even got to see Vohn get a base hit in the first inning.

Injured plumber Bob Jackman and his wife, Linda, watch their grandson Vohn play baseball Wednesday at Concordia at Cabot.