Mitchell Goodbar for Dailymail.Com
16:59 on 22 March 2024, updated at 17:09 on 22 March 2024
- Backhoe operator, 53, trapped after flint rock pit collapses on top of him
- Only “a small portion” of the backhoe was visible when the scene was discovered
- First responders had to install a pipe to provide oxygen to the trapped man
A backhoe operator in Tennessee was rescued after the pit he was working in collapsed on top of him.
The 53-year-old man was loading flint rock, a hard, compact sedimentary rock made mostly of quartz, into a dump truck when the pit wall collapsed.
The dirt swallowed everything: the backhoe operated by the man and the man himself.
Only the backhoe operator’s head and one of his arms were above the dirt, but he was trapped under the roof of the backhoe in such a small space that first responders, when they arrived 12 hours later, they had to run a pipe through the ground to supply him with oxygen.
Photos and video posted to the Maury County Fire Department’s Facebook page captured the crowded scene.
In the videos, the various emergency officials and volunteers work seamlessly together, firefighters and civilians and responders united in their purpose to rescue the trapped man.
A video showed officials counting down as they pulled the buried backhoe operator from the ground.
Footage showed emergency personnel and civilian volunteers carrying out the arduous and backbreaking task of excavating earth and flint rock.
The accident, which occurred around 11 a.m. in the Lewis County community of Hampshire, went unnoticed until the backhoe operator’s family became concerned about his absence.
After several hours without hearing from him, the man’s family began looking for him and found his dump truck running, but no sign of him or the backhoe.
Then they found a splinter from the backhoe exposed in the dirt. It was then 11 at night, about 12 hours after the pit had collapsed.
Hohenwald, Lewis County, Maury County and Spring Hill fire departments flooded the scene.
They were joined by dozens of rescue teams, several volunteers and staff from the Maury County Road Department and Hohenwald Utilities, who provided rescuers with heavy-duty gear. Civilians also contributed a backhoe and a minicar to the operation.
A statement from the Maury County Fire Department said, “Miraculously, verbal contact was able to be made with the equipment operator who had been trapped for approximately 12 hours.”
The statement continued: “Only a small portion of the roof of the backhoe was visible. The operator stated that he had only his head and one arm above the dirt, in a small gap under the roof of the backhoe.’
It was at this point that rescuers placed a pipe “up to the void area to provide fresh air to the operator.”
Crews worked tirelessly to free the man from the collapsed pit, digging with hands and shovels, and forming a “bucket brigade” to move the dirt away from the immediate area.
After three hours of sweaty work, a skid steer and backhoe joined the fray and quickly removed the strips of dirt.
The buried backhoe was revealed and emergency officials decided to see through the roof of the backhoe to gain access to the operator.
They removed the roof and then loaded the man, who had remained conscious throughout the ordeal, communicating with first responders and even helping to remove the dirt from his person, into a stokes basket.
The terrain was treacherous, so rescuers formed a human chain and carried the man from the basket down the hill to an ambulance.
He was taken by helicopter to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where the man is in stable condition and continues to recover.
The Maury County Fire Department concluded its statement by thanking its fellow responders.
“We appreciate the excellent working relationships with our emergency service and public works partners who came together to ensure a successful rescue from a high-risk, low-frequency event.”
