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Pocono News Section
Man Falls 20 Feet From Bridge into Leggetts Creek
Man Falls 20 Feet From Bridge into Leggetts Creek - Thursday, November 1, 2007 at 4:08PM EST
Reported by: David DeCosmo
Thursday, Nov 1, 2007 @04:08pm EST
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY- A man is recovering after he was trapped in a creek.
The emergency call went out around 7 a.m. Thursday morning in Scranton. Our cameras were first on the scene as rescue units arrived. Help came in a hurry thanks to some alert and quick acting neighbors.
The emergency call brought fire, police, and ambulance units to a small bridge that carries North Main Avenue over Leggetts Creek. The victim somehow fell about 20 feet into the water. Paramedics found him awake and alert but with an apparent fractured leg. Rescuers set up a rope system anchored to a tree and placed the victim in a so-called stokes basket to carry him out of the steep channel formed by the stream.
Acting Lieutenant Mike Grimes of the Scranton Fire Department said they practice for a situation like this. "We train at this stuff almost on a regular basis with rope rescue. We constantly train with the other companies because we're going to work in other parts of the city as well. Everybody in the department is trained in rope rescue so we all understand working together."
Even with that training the firemen don't always know what they'll be facing.
"You never know in this job what's going to come up. Anytime of the day you can respond to any one of these calls" stated Scranton Fire Department Private Al Taylor.
The incident happened early in the morning. But the victim was lucky because the people living in a nearby house heard his cries for help.
Jack Scherbenco of Scranton was the initial person to here the injured man. He explained "Around 7 o'clock I heard a guy yelling for help. I got up and I came from upstairs. I went outside on the porch and looked down the river and this guy was laying there yelling for help."
"It was weird. Thinking that somebody actually fell down in the creek and was sitting down there for 20 minutes in that cold water. I just couldn't believe it" declared Tara Scherbenco.
The victim was placed in a waiting ambulance to be transported for emergency treatment.
Police said the victim's injuries were not life threatening.
He has been identified as 51-year-old David Michalski. His address was not included in police records.
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