An 11-year-old boy in New Hampshire was freed after being trapped between two boulders near his school for nine hours.
Firefighters used rope, dish soap and friction-reducing sheets to gradually extract the boy from the crevasse between the boulders in Windsor, New Hampshire. They finally managed to slip him out at about 3:15 a.m. on Monday. They had originally arrived on the scene close to 6 p.m. on Sunday, Hillsborough Fire Chief Kenny Stafford said.
The boy was taken to the hospital for examination and was released the same day, according to Wediko School, a residential treatment center the boy attends.
“On Sunday evening, while under supervision, a student exploring a rocky area on campus slipped between two boulders when sticks and debris gave way beneath them,” the school said in a statement Monday.
“Despite multiple staff members’ efforts to free the student, they were unsuccessful and promptly called local emergency rescue services. Emergency responders worked tirelessly through the night, successfully rescuing the student in the early morning.”
Just about every available response team, including some from five other communities, came out to support the rescue, ranging from state police to the Fish and Game Department.
The Manchester Fire Department, which is about 40 minutes away from Hillsborough, was called in because rescuers specifically needed their heavy rescue truck and crew, Manchester Fire Battalion Chief Jon Fosher said.
Even with all hands on deck, first responders struggled for hours to find a safe way to free the boy. They couldn’t move the boulders and chipping away was too dangerous for the trapped boy. So, they resorted to digging their way to him.
“We basically had to tunnel underneath the boulder to get access to the child’s feet which allowed us something to push on from the bottom,” Fosher said.
Fosher chalked up the success to the teamwork between all crews and departments involved.
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