An 11-year-old boy in New Hampshire was rescued after being trapped between two rocks near his school for nine hours.
Firefighters used ropes, dish soap and anti-friction sheets to piecemeal free the boy from a crevasse among rocks in Windsor, New Hampshire. They finally managed to free the boy at about 3:15 a.m. Monday. Firefighters arrived on the scene close to 6 p.m. Sunday, Hillsboro Fire Chief Kenny Stafford said.
The boy was taken to a hospital for examination and released the same day, according to the Wedico School, a residential treatment center the boy attends.
“On Sunday evening, a student was on a supervised expedition to a rock formation on campus when a tree branch and debris gave way beneath him and he slipped between two rocks,” the university said in a statement on Monday.
“Several officers attempted to rescue the student but were unsuccessful and immediately contacted local emergency rescue services. Emergency responders worked tirelessly through the night and managed to extract the student to safety in the early hours of the morning.”
Nearly every response team, from state police to the Fish and Wildlife Service, was called in to assist with the rescue effort, including teams from five other communities.
The Manchester Fire Department is about 40 minutes away from Hillsboro and was called in because rescuers specifically needed larger rescue vehicles and personnel, said Manchester Fire Battalion Chief John Forsher.
Despite everyone rushing to the scene, emergency workers struggled for hours to find a safe way to free the boy: they couldn't move the rocks, and chipping away at them would have been too dangerous for the trapped boy, so they were forced to dig their way through the rocks to get to him.
“They basically had to dig a tunnel under the rock and push something from underneath to access the child's foot,” Forsher said.
Forsher credited the success to teamwork between all the workers and departments involved.
With post wire
