WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCBD) – A man suffered multiple traumatic injuries Wednesday after becoming trapped under an approximately 16,000-pound track lift behind a home in Walterboro.
The large piece of equipment was being operated in a patch of woods down a deep embankment near Carolina Circle when it tipped over on uneven ground, according to Colleton County Fire Rescue.
Officials say the machine fell on a tree company employee, trapping him. Fire Rescue crews said while the man suffered multiple injuries, he was “remarkably in stable condition.”
Firefighter-paramedics carried rescue equipment and cribbing through a yard, down the embankment, and into the woods. They used two sets of Holmatro high-pressure lifting bags to stabilize the machine.
“The device was cribbed in place, then lifted approx. one and a half feet off of the man so he could be extricated,” officials said.
He was treated for injuries during the process, given pain medications, and then removed from the woods to an ambulance.
The man was taken to the trauma center at Trident Medical Center in North Charleston.
Officials say the extrication took about 35 minutes.
