Family mourns loss of father, husband who fell putting up Christmas lights

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS/Gray News) – A man in South Carolina died after falling from the roof while decorating the house for Christmas.

According to WIS, 31-year-old Joe Cocco leaves behind a wife and two young girls who will face Christmas alone this year.

Cocco’s family said he was a hardworking dad who lived to make his wife and daughters happy. They said Christmas was a big deal to him and his family.

Cocco’s mother-in-law said his wife was inside decorating, and he was outside getting the lights ready to surprise his girls.

Doctors originally said Cocco would be paralyzed from the neck down, but then he took a turn of the worse and died earlier this week, blindsiding them all.

Prisma Health Orthopedic Surgeon Chris Mazoue said accidents like Cocco’s happen most frequently when people get on step stools and they’re not secure, “especially if they reach too far out to put a star on the tree or light on the roof a little further away than needed to be.”

In Cocco’s case, they believe the weather may have been a contributing factor. Stewart said Cocco had mentioned the weather was windy.

“Just weather-wise, look out for any windy weather. Just be really careful,” said Debbie Stewart, Cocco’s mother-in-law.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in 2019 14,800 people were treated for holiday decorating-related injuries, and on average there are 160 injuries a day during the holiday season.