Hole lotta guts!
Vet, 88, survives cesspool plunge horror
An elderly man nearly met a foul end after plunging into his backyard cesspool in Long Island Monday afternoon — but he managed to keep his head above the muck until police arrived.
Ralph Santos, 88, was weed whacking in his backyard on Bancroft Road in North Bay Shore, Suffolk County, when a sinkhole opened beneath his feet, cops said.
He fell into the putrid pit, but the quick-thinking octogenarian used the weed whacker’s electrical cord to hang on and keep his head above the surface, police said.
“It’s very scary. He didn’t give up,” Santos’ wife, Rafaela Santos, 85, told the Daily News Monday night.
Santos, a retired construction worker and Army veteran who served during the Korean War, was holding on for a half-hour before his wife realized where he was, she said.
Rafaela Santos said she was cooking dinner when she heard a noise outside. At first, she didn’t know what she was hearing but she went outside to investigate, and saw the hole.
“I looked at the grass area, and the cesspool was caved in, and said, ‘Oh my God, he fell in the cesspool!’ ” she recalled. “He told me, ‘Don’t call anybody! Bring me the ladder, and I’ll try to get out!’ ”
She got a wooden ladder, but she also called her daughter, she said.
“He told me to bring it into the hole and let it fall into the hole. It sunk but he was able to put his feet on it, and it kept him afloat,” she said.
Police arrived at about 5:25 p.m.
As the sinkhole expanded, Suffolk County Police officers threw him an emergency life ring to keep Santos from going under. They also extended a large aluminum ladder over the hole, Rafaela
Santos said.
The officers pulled him out of the hole nine minutes later, cops said. His son-inlaw hosed him off, his wife said, and the veteran thanked everyone for helping him.
Medics took Santos to Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, where he was staying overnight for evaluation.
Despite his age, Santos is in good shape, his wife said. And his tenacity meant he’ll livetoseehiseightgrandchildren and seven great-grandchildren after the ordeal.
“He has his high blood pressure, but he’s very active. He’s always outside gardening and planting and stuff like that. He’s always worked outside in construction, so he’s pretty healthy,” she said.
He’s also a devout Catholic, his wife said.
“He had a guardian angel looking after him,” she said.