October 14, 2007
Lee County -- Terrell and Lee deputies cleared traffic as Lee County firefighters surrounded the construction site. All of them working to get 16 year-old Gary Gilbert out.
"We had a juvenile that was walking along here and somehow fell into the hole. He sustained some injuries at the bottom of the hole," said Lee County Firefighter, Captain Kelly Harcrow.
That fall is about a 10 to 15 foot drop. "We arrived on the scene along with E.M.S. We have treated his injuries having packaged him. He is stable," said Captain Harcrow.
But the difficulty lied in getting Gilbert out of that hole.
The Albany Marine Corp were called to the scene because they had the equipment to lift the boy of the hole using the least amount of manpower causing the least amount of risk of further injury.
"We are waiting for the Marine Base who has a mutual aid agreement with us. They will bring their aerial boom truck out. We are going to use the aerial boom and their pulley system to get him out of the hole and get him up here so that E.M.S. can transfer him," said Captain Harcrow.
Family waited in anticipation for the rescue; a rescue effort that is by no means standard.
"A call like this is never standard. One of the things of our job is we have to look at the situation, adapt and figure out what we are going to do at that point. This is not something that we see very often, so there is really nothing standard about," said Captain Harcrow.
The unique call requiring unique rescue efforts which ended with success. Gary Gilbert was taken to Phoebe Putney and was listed in good condition as of earlier Sunday afternoon.
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