Althouse: Man fell 40 feet into an abandoned gold mine, broke both his legs, and — before getting rescued 48 hours later

October 19, 2018

Man fell 40 feet into an abandoned gold mine, broke both his legs, and — before getting rescued 48 hours later — had to fight rattlesnakes.

BBC reports.

59 comments:

Oso Negro said...: Damn! That’s a True Grit moment right there; 10/19/18, 2:56 PM
Gilbert Pinfold said...: Watch the Kirk Douglas movie "Ace in the Hole", a wonderful and presciently cynical look at journalism.; 10/19/18, 2:56 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Why did it have to be snakes?; 10/19/18, 3:02 PM
Nonapod said...: You never know what you might be capable of until you have no other choice.; 10/19/18, 3:03 PM
Rob said...: "There are 13 types of rattlesnakes that can be found in Arizona . . . ." That's 13 too many.; 10/19/18, 3:03 PM
William said...: I've had days like that.; 10/19/18, 3:04 PM
Henry said...: Oso Negro nailed it!; 10/19/18, 3:06 PM
walter said...: And you thought you were having a bad day.; 10/19/18, 3:07 PM
Mike Sylwester said...: Ann, until you get that cataract operation, be very careful when you are walking around abandoned gold mines.; 10/19/18, 3:13 PM
Earnest Prole said...: The rattlesnake scene in Charles Portis' novel True Grit is worthy of a horror movie.; 10/19/18, 3:16 PM
Lucid-Ideas said...: ...had to fight them...for the gold? Did he get the gold? I hope he did.; 10/19/18, 3:18 PM
WisRich said...: Talk about rolling snake eyes.; 10/19/18, 3:25 PM
campy said...: "had to fight them...for the gold? Did he get the gold? I hope he did"

No, he got the shaft.; 10/19/18, 3:26 PM
Francisco D said...: We have some big rattlers here in Southern Arizona. They reportedly never kill adults with their venom.

However, they scare the shit out of me.

The usually absurd Freudian explanation is nontheless amusing.; 10/19/18, 3:29 PM
Phil 314 said...: Was he wearing a fedora and equipped with a bullwhip?; 10/19/18, 3:37 PM
Phil 314 said...: I see Ignorance is Bliss and I were thinking along the same lines.; 10/19/18, 3:38 PM
Tomcc said...: This is why I believe I'll live to be 90; I will never rappel 100' into an abandoned mine shaft.; 10/19/18, 3:39 PM
Left Bank of the Charles said...: "Terry Schrader, a friend of the victim, told local media that Mr Waddell had called him on Monday to tell him he was going into the mine to look for gold and precious metals, and asked that he check on him if he had not returned by Tuesday. ... On Wednesday he arrived at the mine, which is on Mr Waddell's property in Aguila - 90 miles (145km) northwest of downtown Phoenix."; 10/19/18, 3:40 PM
AllenS said...: campy said...
"had to fight them...for the gold? Did he get the gold? I hope he did"

No, he got the shaft.

--------------------

That comment right there is going to be hard to beat.; 10/19/18, 3:42 PM
Big Mike said...: @AllenS, very good!; 10/19/18, 3:45 PM
Susan said...: One of the guys friends said he wasn't fighting the snakes he killed them because he was hungry.

So there he is bottom of 100 ft. shaft, two broken legs, friction burns on his hands, and he has to kill and eat rattlesnakes.

Dang!; 10/19/18, 3:46 PM
Lucid-Ideas said...: Campy.

You win the internet for the day sir.

Go buy that mega millions. You earned it.; 10/19/18, 3:50 PM
Saint Croix said...: he killed them because he was hungry.

now that's turning lemons into lemonade

who's up for some raw snake?

tasty!; 10/19/18, 3:58 PM
john said...: It wasnt that he was just walking around the desert looking at birds. He was rapelling down the shaft when his caribiner let loose and he fell about 50 feet.; 10/19/18, 4:05 PM
stevew said...: That would be a nightmare come true for me.

-sw; 10/19/18, 4:19 PM
Paul Zrimsek said...: How many of the guys who got him out were pedophiles?; 10/19/18, 4:38 PM
Fred Drinkwater said...: Somebody mentioned "fedora" and look who showed up.
I'm impressed.; 10/19/18, 4:38 PM
Fernandinande said...: The Brits loves them some scary snake stories - their scariest wildlife is a damned pony. And giant rats.

Fall, slip, trip to lower level 697 deaths in 2016; almost two per day. Snakes made this one special. And not dying.

In the early 70s there were a lot of abandoned, unsealed mines around Tombstone, and we rode motorcycles around in the horizontal ones and climbed down by ladder or rope into others. I guess now they're all sealed off or imploded.

And strangely, I think, in nearly twenty years of kid-to-young-adult-hood messing around in AZ turning over rocks and peering into holes, I only saw three rattlesnakes, one was a baby at the bottom of the sink-hole which comprises the entrance to "Scroll cave", in a flat field 20-or-so miles NNE(?) of Tucson, and which made some guy's girlfriend cry.; 10/19/18, 4:39 PM
Birkel said...: For a second I thought this story was about Elizabeth Warren and her failed DNA test.

Why would one go to an abandoned gold mine alone?
Seems Grade A foolish.

Reminds me of the opening to There Will Be Blood.; 10/19/18, 4:46 PM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: There must've been blood. https://youtu.be/T3O-OEem3XM?t=243; 10/19/18, 4:49 PM
Howard said...: I used to do a lot mine spelunking in eastern Cali, Nv and Ut. Never saw rattlers. Lots of bats. Some rooms had hundreds of bats hanging out with several feet of guano on the ground.; 10/19/18, 4:55 PM
tim in vermont said...: I had the over/under on "Why'd it have to be snakes?" at four.; 10/19/18, 4:55 PM
tim in vermont said...: I had a neighbor who used to catch rattlesnakes in PA and keep them in a chicken wire cage for barbecue purposes. He might have only done it once, IDK, but it's seared into my hippocampus.; 10/19/18, 4:58 PM
PM said...: Sharks.
Snakes.
Brewers.
Dodgers.
Killer day.; 10/19/18, 5:23 PM
Anthony said...: We've been hearing a lot about that story around here. I'm suspicious of the whole rattlesnakes bit. What were snakes doing in a mine? Unless they fell in there's no point being there. It's not like they can go in and out.

I call foul.; 10/19/18, 5:34 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: "ok, so I'm gonna go by myself past these "Danger! Stay Out-Stay Alive" signs, drop 100 feet down into a rattlesnake infested pit with faulty equipment. If I aint out by, say Tuesday or so, come git me"

Sure thing--I'd offer to hold yer beer, but it looks like you done drunk it all.; 10/19/18, 5:43 PM
buwaya said...: I offer 3:1 odds the fellow is a Republican.; 10/19/18, 5:45 PM
AllenS said...: I was going to comment about the bit with the rattlesnakes at the bottom of the mine, but Anthony beat me to it. How did the rattlesnakes make a living down there anyhow? How often does someone fall down there so the snakes can get a meal?; 10/19/18, 5:59 PM
AllenS said...: And, I think that rattlesnakes only have 2 teeth, and they are mounted in the top of the mouth. How are they going to bite off a meal with only 2 teeth? I gotta call BS on the story.; 10/19/18, 6:03 PM
Ace Sullivan said...: who among us hasn't fallen in hole or two; 10/19/18, 6:06 PM
Michael K said...: The vets in Tucson have "snake avoidance courses" for dogs. I always walk my basset on a leash for that reason.

About two weeks ago she found a rattlesnake but somebody had already chopped its head off.

I've seen them crossing the road but we have not encountered a live one on the walks.; 10/19/18, 6:06 PM
Fabi said...: Nice that he survived a rattlesnake attack -- but could he survive a Sharknado?; 10/19/18, 6:22 PM
Fred Drinkwater said...: Wait, he was soloing this little expedition? With sloppy surface backup?
Meh...

Re: rattlesnakes - I lived for 25 years near the SF peninsula Crystal Springs watershed. There was a 12 mile cross-country running course laid out along a ridge, in grass / dry meadow and scrub oak terrain. The entry gate had a big sign warning of rattlers.
In 25 years of walking and running that course and area, I never saw even one snake.
Until the very last day I lived there. That morning I nearly walked right over two of the damn things, in two different spots about a mile apart, each coiled up right in the middle of the running trail.
In hindsight, it was probably because of the weather and time of day. It was a cool summer morning, and the snakes had come out of the shady high grass to warm up in the sun on the open trails. Pretty much every other time I was up there was during a warm afternoon, or a chilly summer fog afternoon. Hence, no snakes visible.; 10/19/18, 6:32 PM
rhhardin said...: Snakes have no legs as punishment for the unpleasantness in the garden.; 10/19/18, 6:34 PM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Being warm-blooded, I don't think they would be moving too fast at the bottom of a 100 ft. hole if they were even alive. Pretty cool down there I'd guess.; 10/19/18, 7:10 PM
Leora said...: Buwaya, the man probably doesn't vote. He probably thinks it just encourages them.; 10/19/18, 7:31 PM
MadTownGuy said...: Was he driving a Chevy with a JATO tank?; 10/19/18, 9:03 PM
Bob Loblaw said...: I guess you don't fight off rattlesnakes by kicking them.; 10/19/18, 9:05 PM
MadTownGuy said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/19/18, 9:07 PM
MadTownGuy said...: Whoops. Put up a link to the JATO story, and was alerted that the site contains malware. Never mind...; 10/19/18, 9:10 PM
todd galle said...: When I hike around our cabin in PA, I usually have a 9 shot .22 revolver, loaded with bird shot every second round, just in case of rattlesnakes. I might not get the with a solid, but the bird shot will work. Especially if I put a .22 magnum cylinder in the revolver, which I will do this week now that I think about it, wildlife goes a bit bonkers with winter coming. We had an 8 foot black snake come out from under the cabin during cocktails once, but he just went on his way around the patio furniture. A nice gentleman if you will. Rattlers though, if I hear them, get shot.; 10/19/18, 9:24 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: What a brave, courageous, survivor of a man!

Trump should prove himself by doing the same thing.; 10/19/18, 9:56 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: Michael K said...

The vets in Tucson have "snake avoidance courses" for dogs. I always walk my basset on a leash for that reason.

About two weeks ago she found a rattlesnake but somebody had already chopped its head off.

I've seen them crossing the road but we have not encountered a live one on the walks.

They recognize and know how to avoid one of their own.; 10/19/18, 9:59 PM
tim in vermont said...: Well I been workin' in a gold mine
Goin' down, down
Workin' in a gold mine
Whew! About to slip down; 10/19/18, 10:43 PM
tim in vermont said...: Snakes didn't know it was Whacking Day.; 10/19/18, 10:46 PM
stlcdr said...: I'd say he also had to walk up hill, both ways, but under the circumstances...; 10/20/18, 7:55 AM
stlcdr said...: First think he said when he hit the bottom, surrounded by snakes...'damn, it must be Tuesday'.; 10/20/18, 7:58 AM
stlcdr said...: I bet he will bring out a book describing the experience: '1001 Rattlesnake Recipes'.; 10/20/18, 8:00 AM
Michael K said...: I see Ritmo has the day off from McD's.; 10/20/18, 12:14 PM