DETROIT – Crews worked for several hours Monday to rescue a man who became trapped in a trench in the backyard of a Detroit home.
RELATED: Man rescued from trench in backyard of Detroit home after several hours
Aaron White, 50, spoke about the incident at Ascension St. John Hospital.
He said he was digging out a backyard to replace some pipe when the shovel came off the excavator. When they tried to pull it out of the hole, the dirt caved in and trapped White up to his chest.
“I was fully aware that I could breathe and it was compressed to my chest,” White said. “It was an unbearable pain.”
The rescue went late into the night. While temperatures dropped, his spirit never did because of the Detroit firefighters who were by his side the entire way.
“They were digging with everything they had and I was digging myself with my right hand along those guys,” White said. “They did everything along the way -- keeping me calm and they promised me they’d get me out and they did.”
White suffered some nerve damage has some swelling in his left leg, but doctors said he’ll be OK.