Man Survives Three-Hour Ride In Garbage Truck Inside Makeshift 'Coffin'
YOLO COUNTY (CBS13) — Firefighters are calling it a miracle—a man stuck in the back of a garbage truck while garbage men were picking up and compacting trash somehow survived the crushing blows.
Firefighters are saying the man could have easily suffocated.
"People in the industry have a hard time believing he survived. This is really kind of a miracle that he didn't die," said Tim Annis with Davis Fire.
To survive in the back of a garbage truck, the man told first responders he used wooden planks, creating a pocket around him so he wouldn't get crushed.
"He described the area that he built around him as a coffin, and those were his words, so we're fortunate it didn't turn out to be a coffin," said Yolo County Sheriff's Lt. Martin Torres.
He said he was digging in the dumpster for his lost wallet when the truck came along and scooped him up.
In the Rio Linda or North Highlands area, he was stuck back there for three and a half hours before he was finally dumped at the Yolo County landfill on Tuesday afternoon.
Imagine the truck driver's surprise when he saw a man fly out of his truck along with the trash. And it's a good thing the driver spotted him so he could stop the bulldozer that was about to flatten everything in its path.
"In all reality he probably saved the guy's life," Torres said.
One lucky guy with one more piece of good fortune that saved him: the truck was only half-full. Had it been completely full, deputies say he almost certainly wouldn't have made it out alive.
Atlas Disposal says its proud of its drive stopping the bulldozer just in time.
As for the man, he was taken to the hospital with only minor injuries. All he needed was some time to recover, and probably a shower.