Long Island man sinks waist-deep into mud while hiking through park
SMITHTOWN, N.Y. — A Long Island man's four-legged friend got him into a sticky situation Thursday. He ended up sinking waist-deep into mud in a Smithtown park, getting stuck for nearly an hour.
His own life-saving skills and quick first responders helped save him.
"Every time I moved, I sunk deeper"
Kyle Prato, a 24-year-old first responder, was hiking with his 7-month-old Australian shepherd, Stryker, when Stryker took off chasing a duck. Prato ran after him and started to get a sinking feeling.
"My first step was up to the knee, and then over 30 minutes, I sank down to my waist," Prato said. "I felt stuck and I thought I was going to keep sinking further, so it was a little terrifying. It was also incredibly cold."
For 45 minutes, he was sinking into what's left of Stump Pond in Blydenburgh Park, which lost all its water in a summer storm.
"Every time I moved, I just fell further, so I was like, I'm trying to stay still," he said.
Prato found out just how deep the mud was the hard way.
"I'm thinking, 'This is it.' I still didn't believe that it was actually happening, but it was," he said.
"It's similar to quicksand that we all saw in cartoons when we were kids"
A trained paramedic, he calmly phoned a friend with a location pin.
"I tell her, 'Hey, I need you to come find me. I think I'm slipping in quicksand,'" Prato said.
But his roommate Abbey Popick, who was jogging nearby, lost cell service.
"I was just screaming his name as loud as I could at this point," Popick said. "I was very panicked ... When I was stopping the bystanders, they were all like, there's no quicksand here."
The muddy shoe was on the other foot now. The first responder was one who needed saving. With his hands still free, he managed a call to 911.
Firefighters and police with a chopper pinged his phone to locate him.
Prato tried to warn the responding officer not to get too close, but he too lost his footing before being able to pull Prato out – to the delight of Stryker.
"I'm very grateful that he didn't listen to me, that he came to help," Prato said. "He risked his life."
Stryker was OK, but got a bath. Everyone else is getting a lesson in the dangers of winter mud.
"It's similar to quicksand that we all saw in cartoons when we were kids. It's going to hold you in and you have no recourse of trying to push your way out because it's all around you," Smithtown Fire Department Assistant Chief Dan Dongvort said.
Prato says no more hikes for Stryker in Blydenburgh Park until the pond is fixed, which is in the works.
