An unnamed Georgia man is recovering after a terrifying incident during which he fell into a large quantity of mud at a construction site in Atlanta.
The man, whose age was not provided to the media, was walking along Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway at around 8 AM when the accident occurred. Scarily, it is reported that he was traversing a muddy bridge when he became submerged in the muck, and was soon unable to free himself.
According to ABC, first responders on the scene had to enable the man to breathe before the nearly hour-long rescue attempt could be made:
“Atlanta Fire Rescue crews who responded to the scene had to first move the mud away from his face so he could continue to breathe and then worked for nearly one hour before they were able to pull him from the mud, using a ladder and their own strength.”
The rescue was touch and go at points, with firefighters fearing the man would drown while buried in the mud before he could be freed. Battalion Chief David Rhodes later told press :
“I think he walked in and possibly got stuck to the point of exhaustion and then passed out… At one time, his face went under and the Grady medic was able to get his face up and actually scoop the mud out of his mouth. We also had a firefighter stuck trying to get him that we thought we were going to have to get, and a Grady medic partially stuck here.”
Rhodes described how the man was kept alive while firefighters worked to free him:
“The suction on the mud was holding the individual down and his airway was compromised, so one of the Grady medics was able to get out to him and get his airway open and move the mud away from his face to keep him breathing.”
After his ordeal of being buried in mud for over an hour, the man was transported to nearby Grady hospital and is expected to make a full recovery after being treated for hypothermia.
Man, Firefighter Sucked into Mud at Construction Zone: MyFoxDC.com
