Second Chances (not ff)

........Pennsylvania man survives 500-foot fall into strip mine
By MICHAEL RUBINKAM, Associated Press Writer
Fri Apr 25, 11:11 PM ET
ALLENTOWN, Pa. - A man survived a 500-foot fall into a strip mine Friday, astounding rescuers who spent hours on a risky descent into the abyss to bring him back out.

Police said Nathan Bowman was trespassing on coal company property around 1 a.m. Friday when he slipped and fell into the Springdale Pit, an inactive mine about 700 feet deep, 3,000 feet long and 1,500 feet wide.

Bowman tumbled down a jagged slope and then free-fell several hundred feet, his descent broken by a rock ledge not far from the bottom of the pit, said Coaldale Police Chief Timothy Delaney, who helped direct the rescue effort.

"If you look at that drop, there was no way somebody could survive that," Delaney said.

Bowman, 23, of Tamaqua, was in serious condition Friday night at St. Luke's Hospital in Bethlehem. The extent and nature of his injuries was not clear, although rescuer John Fowler said it appeared he suffered a number of fractures.

Bowman and a friend were walking around the pit when he went over the side. The friend called 911, and Coaldale police and firefighters began a frantic search, according to Delaney.

State police got into the act several hours later, using a helicopter, floodlights and thermal imaging to try to pinpoint Bowman's location in the pit, about 90 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

"It got really, really dangerous," Delaney said. "My guys were fantastic; they were heroes, risking their lives in total darkness."

The search was called off at daybreak. Shortly thereafter, Delaney went to the offices of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Co., which owns the Springdale Pit, to notify officials of the situation.

"I said, 'Let's take a ride over there and show me where it occurred,'" said Fowler, 40, a project manager at the company.

Their luck was better this time.

"Within about three minutes, we found him," Fowler said. "I thought I could hear a muffled call for help. We yelled to him and asked him where he was, and he said he thought he was on a ledge."

Fowler, who moonlights as a state firefighter instructor, and a Coaldale police sergeant scouted a relatively safe route to Bowman and stayed with him until more help arrived.

Two firefighters rappelled down to the ledge, loaded Bowman onto a basket and tied themselves to it. Then all three were painstakingly hoisted up.

Bowman was lucid when he arrived at the top of the pit late Friday morning, wanting his harness loosened, asking that someone call his brother and expressing fear about riding in a medical helicopter, said Sarah Curran Smith, a vice president at Lehigh Coal.

Bowman's survival is "pretty unbelievable," she said. "I think the universe has bigger plans for Nathan. I hope he realizes that."

Bowman faces charges including defiant trespass, according to Delaney. End Quote.
Doug

Once again Darwins theory fails.

I pray for Nathan's recovery and hope that he will learn form this. Open pit strip mining is very common in this part of the country.

Years ago they did not have to reclaim the land but I think it was in the 1970's that the law was changed so that the land must reclaimed once the mining operation is done. Some of the old mines were reclaimed but others were not under a "Grandfather" clause. Some of the mines filled up with water and support terrific warm water fisheries/wet lands.

All of these mines are very steep sided and can be extremely dangerous. One learns where to walk and where not to walk. I've caught some huge blue gills and large mouth bass out of these water filled mines but taken some bad falls too. In a way he may be fortunate that this mine was not water filled. A mine that deep would have very strong undertow currents. Chances are, after that type of fall, he would have drowned had there been water in the mine.

One word here. Although I do not like open pit strip mining I fully realize it is a necessity in our world of today. Without the minerals produced by this type of mining we would not have the coal, lime stone and other minerals that keep us safe, healthy and prosperous.

I fish a LOT in Schuylkill & Carbon County, PA. The mines and their scars are something that unfortunately attract a LOT of attention from NEPA kids and quite a few fisherman too. If it isn't pits it's ventilation shafts, subsidence, old breakers or out buildings and some REALLY scary water! :shock:

Sadly Nathan's lesson will continue to be learned by many the hard way like it was before him.