Forklift driver who died in accident lost home in tornado

BELVIDERE, Ill. (AP) - A northern Illinois man whose family was recovering after last year's Fairdale tornado destroyed their home has died in a forklift accident.

The Winnebago County coroner says 36-year-old Chris Thick died Tuesday when a forklift slid backward off a truck and struck him. He was a forklift mechanic for Fitzgerald Equipment Co. in Rockford. Officials said the accident happened at Fastenal, a Belvidere manufacturer.

The Rockford Register Star reports (http://bit.ly/1KuM2kv ) that Thick and fiancee Jackie Jordan were rebuilding their lives in Belvidere after the Fairdale tornado destroyed their home. They have two sons who are ages 2 and 3 this year, and Thick had an 18-year-old son.

Jordan said Thick's death was a shock. She says he was a "wonderful" man, good father and "would do anything for anyone."

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Information from: Rockford Register Star, http://www.rrstar.com