Posted on 10/19/2018 3:44:06 AM PDT by Libloather
An Arizona man who fell to the bottom of an old abandoned gold mine shaft, broke both his legs, fought off a trio of rattlesnakes and went two days without food or water before a friend heard his cries for help is lucky to be alive, said the head of a rescue team.
"He is a very fortunate individual," Operations Commander Roger Yensen of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Mountain Rescue Posse said Thursday of 62-year-old John Waddell.
Waddell owns the land where the shaft is located north of Phoenix and was using a rope to lower himself into it on Monday when he lost control and fell at least 50 feet (15 meters) to the rocky ground. He had a cellphone but no service.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Be careful out there...
If there were 3 rattlesnakes he had 4-5 days of food available.
He needs some rappelling lessons.
I have dropped into several mines in AZ. But always did it with a partner on the top side.
Sounds like the next “Final Destination” movie.
True Grit.
“....damn Texican, saved my life twice, and once when he was dead.”
Snakes must have lowered themselves down to.vgg
My daughter has a friend who’s family owns a ranch in Texas. She was there with a group of friends and he was showing them the ranch. At one point, he moved a large flat rock to show them a hole in the ground. They had to shimmy through the rock a few feet to get to the large underground cavern.
My daughter was the first one in. She said it was really cool.
“True Grit.”
Exactly. Scariest part of the whole movie.
62 and tough as leather!
That was my first thought. I guess he never really got hungry.
That’s what I was thinking.
I hate when that happens.
OK, I'm telling you guys now: If you fall down a snake-pit in Arizona and end up breaking both your legs, don't come running to me...
Just d-mn
I know, right? I won't even change out a broken light switch in my house with the breaker turned off unless someone else is home with me.
Back in the ‘80s I took the wife and kids out to the desert for “treasure hunting” with my metal detector.
We were out by Baker, CA (between Barstow and the NV line) checking out the abandoned Tonopah & Tidewater rail line and other neat stuff.
Wife out somewhere, the kids chasing lizards and I was concentrating sweeping the area. Came to a slight rise and nearly fell down an abandoned mine shaft. Scared the Yell out of me. I tossed in a rock, which took about two seconds to hit something like a piece of sheet metal.
No signs, no nothing - just a big black hole about 10’ wide waiting for someone to fall in.
Put the family in the car and took off as I didn’t know how many other holes there might be and with two small kids running all over the place, we were just asking for problems.
The guy was lucky in that he wasn’t knocked unconscious or be might still be there.
_________________
Comment from CitizensPress.com; on this guy:
______
He’s a little pussy when compared to Katherine McHale Slaughterback.
In 1925, she killed 140 rattlesnake in a single go. When she came upon a huge concentration of snakes, she shot at them until she was out of ammo, then grabbed a “no hunting” sign and bludgeoned them to death to protect her horse and young son from attack.
She then made a dress from their skins, and spent the rest of her life known as “Rattlesnake Kate”.
THAT’S a rock star!
You're right, people weren't pussies back then and the Feral Gubbmint didn't meddle in Darwin's work so the herd was thinned accordingly.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.