06/08/2010 // WPB, FL, USA // Nicole Howley // Nicole Howley
Knoxville, TN—Rescue teams conducted a very risky recovery at the University of Tennessee campus, after a worker was trapped about 30-feet inside an excavation tunnel. The worker was trapped on the site of UT’s planned Sorority Village near the intersection of Kingston Pike and Newyland Drive on Monday evening, June 7, 2010, as reported by KnoxNews.com
Knoxville Fire officials reported a 27-year-old worker was trapped by an auger, or otherwise known as a large drill, inside a horizontal channel that was being excavated for a sewer line. At around 4 p.m., the worker’s leg somehow became caught between the blades of the drill and the wall of the 5-foot-diameter hole.
Knoxville Fire Department Capt. D.J. Corcoran said, “His leg is pretty much crushed.”
The worker’s leg was reportedly cut for about an hour before rescue teams were able to free him. Officials were worried that the auger blade may have cut his femoral artery. Due to the immense amount of pressure on the workers leg, the severity of his injuries were hard to tell because the pressure kept blood from escaping his body.
Construction workers had to use hydraulic spreaders to move the auger’s blades from the sides of the wall, so rescuers could remove the injured worker from the hole. Doctors from UT Medical Center were at the scene as they were rescuing the worker.
The worker was hauled from the hole by KDF ladder truck and rushed to the UT Medical Center for treatment.
Blout Excavating Inc. of Maryville employed the seriously injured North Carolina-based worker.
A full investigation is underway.
Legal News Reporter: Nicole Howley-Legal news for Tennessee construction accident lawyer.
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