Seven days after Pentti Paavilainen spent more than two hours trapped beneath a concrete beam at a dam in Hamilton, he remains in hospital.

Sandra Paavilainen, who describes herself as Pentti Paavilainen’s “best friend,” says the 63-year-old is now able to breathe on his own and even speak.

“I’m feeling better each day, because he’s getting better each day,” she said in an interview Thursday at Hamilton General Hospital.

Last week, Pentti was part of a crew at an old dam near the community of Carlisle, east of Cambridge.

“They were looking into things – whether it can be restored or not – and then the wall let go,” Sandra said.

The wall collapsed onto Pentti. Freeing him was such a tricky proposition that surgical specialists were brought to the site, although their help ended up not being needed.

An air ambulance was also brought in to rush Pentti to hospital for treatment.

He had broken bones in his left leg, and part of his right foot was amputated.

Although authorities said at the time that Pentti was a Brantford resident, Sandra says they actually live in Dean Lake, about 200 kilometres west of Sudbury.

When she was told by police that Pentti had been hurt, Sandra dropped everything and made the eight-hour drive to Hamilton.

She’s been in the city ever since, where she says surgeons have done a great job of helping Pentti and of keeping her aware of his situation.

“I cannot say enough about the staff in this hospital,” she said.

Sandra says she sees Pentti’s condition improving, and believes he’ll keep getting better.

“He’s strong and stubborn,” she said.

“I have faith he’ll come through.”

The Ministry of Labour is still investigating the incident that put Pentti in hospital, and has issued orders for all work at the site to stop until certain precautions have been taken.

With reporting by Max Wark