Man rescued from manhole after Stourbridge fall (From Stourbridge News)

Man rescued from manhole after Stourbridge fall

9:33am Friday 10th August 2012 in News

A 34-YEAR-old man fell 15ft down a manhole this morning while out walking his dog – and was discovered after his four-legged companion returned home without him.

The incident happened in Dunsley Road, Norton at around 3.40am.

West Midlands Fire Service crews from Brierley Hill and Stourbridge attended, as well as the Technical Rescue Team, HART (Hazardous Area Response Team) and West Midlands Ambulance Service’s critical care paramedics and a trauma doctor who worked to try and release the man from the “confined space” which was approximately 8ft long by 2ft wide.

A West Midlands Fire Service spokesman said: “The man was complaining of lower back and neck injuries and a lack of feeling in his lower body.”

The fire service had to gain access to the injured man through a second manhole with a member of the HART team sent down into the hole to assist the operation below the ground.

Emergency crews worked for around an hour to free the man from the hole using a vertical winch and long board and treated him for his back pain on the scene, before he was taken to Russells Hall Hospital for further assessment.

A spokesperson from Severn Trent Water said: "We received a report that a member of the public had fallen down a man hole on Dunsley Road in Stourbridge early this morning.

"We are treating this incident extremely seriously and have launched a full investigation."