Iowa Man Trapped by Tree Rescued Just in Time
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Jupiterimages/Thinkstock(LUCAS, Iowa) — An Iowa man is expected to make a full recovery after a giant pine tree fell on him in an isolated part of a forest.
David Blair, a lumberjack, was trimming trees near Lucas, Iowa, in Stephens State Forest when a tree fell on his stomach Monday.
Pinned and alone in the 15,000-acre park, he had his cellphone in his hand and was able to dial for help.
“Lucas County 911,” the Lucas County Sheriff’s dispatcher said.
“I’m in Stephens Forest and I got a tree on top of me and I can’t get out,” Blair said. “Hurry, I can’t feel nothing.”
Blair’s moans could be heard over the telephone as he could barely breathe with the tree trunk crushing his abdomen. Still, he was giving directions to the dispatcher on his location in the huge forest.
“OK, so if I go in on Highway 65 and keep going to the bridge and stay to the right?” the dispatcher asked.
“Yeah, all the way down you’ll find me. I just dropped …,” Blair said.
“You just dropped what?” the dispatcher asked right before the line went dead.
What Blair had dropped was his phone but firefighters still spotted him gasping to stay alive.
“There were three or four guys who were able to lift the tree off of him and then they were able to gently pull him out to safety…,” firefighter Steve Davis said.
Blair is reportedly in serious condition, but is expected to make a full recovery.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio