Infant rescued from deep hole

Press, 4 May 1984, Page 1

Infant rescued from deep hole

PA Gisborne Benjamin Dewes, only 22 months old, is safe after a dramatic rescue last evening saw him dragged from death in a narrow shaft. In the four-hour drama near Ruatoria, a relay of diggers worked frantically on a parallel hole to save his life. Benjamin was trapped in the sump hole about 5m underground. The hole was only half a metre in diameter in most places; where the boy was trapped, it was only about 25cm. Only his hands and head were visible after he

tumbled down the shaft yesterday afternoon on his grandfather’s property a few kilometres from Ruatoria on the road to Waiomatatini.

The rescuers had to dig a large parallel shaft beside the hole to reach him. The drama started soon after 2 p.m., when the boy’s screams were first heard, and ended about 6.30 p.m. The cold night air increased fears for his safety as darkness fell, but the plucky little toddler emerged angry but unhurt from his ordeal.

He was flown by helicopter to spend the night at Te

Puia Hospital, 35km away. His relieved parents, Pane and Hine Dewes, could not control their relief and gratitude after their son was rescued. “It seemed hopeless,” Mr Dewes said of the worst moments after finding his son wedged down the sump hole. “I could hear him grunting from being wedged so tight. I was frightened he would run out of air, or the hole would cave in and he would be smothered. “At times you could hear his laboured breathing. It sounded like a big weight was on him,” Mr Dewes

said. Rescuers came from everywhere. The fire brigade and police arrived from Gisborne 100 km away, both by road and helicopter. A doctor was flown to the scene, and oxygen pumping equipment and lights were moved in. Forestry and Project Employment Programme workers dug franticly, lunging into the heavy clay soil. A mechanical digger travelled about 35km to speed up the dig. Fear of a cave-in was also uppermost in the mind of the deputy district police commander, Chief Inspector

Mick Huggard, who flew to the scene. He said he was worried that loose dirt would fall on the boy. “It was fortunate he went down the hole feet first; head first, he would have asphyxiated quickly,” Mr Huggard said. Benjamin, one of four children, was with his brother, aged four, at the time the accident occurred. Somehow they managed to lift the cover from the sump hole. Benjamin’s screams alerted family members working on his grandfather’s house nearby.