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Sefton Ipock
Anderson Independent-Mail
Rescue workers lower a man into a
hole on Thomas Lane at Southern Wesleyan University in Central Tuesday
to recover the body of David Summey, a
35-year-old college employee. Investigators believe the hole opened up
beneath Mr. Summey and he subsequently
suffocated due to the lack of oxygen in the 25-foot hole.
A group of firefighters from Central
waits nearby as rescue personnel from Anderson work to recover the body
of David Summey, who fell into a sinkhole on
the campus of Southern Wesleyan University in Central Tuesday.
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Central man, 28, suffocates after fall
into hole
By CHARMAINE SMITH
Anderson Independent-Mail
April
5, 2005
CENTRAL — No one cheered when rescue workers pulled
35-year-old David Summey’s lifeless body from a
25-foot sinkhole in a roadway leading to the nearby Southern Wesleyan
University campus where he worked.
"Our
hearts are broken," university President David Spittal
said. ‘This entire campus will grieve because David was loved by
everyone."
With
Mr. Summey’s wife, parents and co-workers
standing by, two Anderson Technical Rescue Team members pulled Mr. Summey from the sinkhole on Thomas Lane at 6 p.m.,
nearly four hours after he fell in.
About
50 rescue workers with a half-dozen agencies, including the Central and
Clemson fire departments, the Pickens County Emergency Medical Services
and the team from Anderson, responded after Mr. Summey
fell in the sinkhole, estimated at 25 feet deep and 45 inches in
diameter.
Road
crews had blocked off Thomas Road to traffic earlier that day, but Mr. Summey and two other university employees decided to
investigate the situation. Mr. Summey took a
misstep and fell in around 2:30 p.m., just as a county truck loaded with
dirt pulled onto the road to fill in the hole.
Once
Mr. Summey fell, one of the workers heard him
call out from the hole and say he was "OK," Dr. Mahanes relayed.
"Then he clutched his chest and he said he didn’t feel right,"
the coroner said, his own eyes filling with tears as he recalled the
statements from witnesses.
Dr. Mahanes said Mr. Summey
likely suffocated within minutes of the fall. His body had only a few
abrasions and he was not severely injured on impact. But there was not
enough oxygen in the hole to keep him alive very long. The air inside the
hole was only 3 percent oxygen, compared the
usual 21 percent found at ground level.
That
lack of oxygen delayed the rescue, Dr. Mahanes
said.
One
rescue worker who tried to enter the sinkhole discovered very quickly
that he could suffocate as well. The teams had to call in for air tanks.
"In
this situation, there was very little chance," Dr. Mahanes said. "The rescue teams would have had
to have been on the scene when it happened to save him."
A
ladder truck was extended over the sinkhole, a firefighter attached a
wench onto the ladder and then two workers were lowered into the gaping
hole. In 20 minutes, both workers resurfaced and pulled Mr. Summey — still in his jeans, work boots and burgundy
shirt — to the surface on a flat-board stretcher.
Officials
speculated Tuesday that recent rains in the area eroded the asphalt and
gravel around the 40-year-old road, thus causing the manhole-sized
section to cave in. Several asphalt patches were apparent on the road
where crews had patched previous rough spots or other holes.
Mr. Summey was a 12-year electrician for the university.
He and his wife, whose name was unknown late Tuesday, met at the college
while they attended classes there. The couple did not have children.
In
1991, Mr. Summey graduated from the university
and went to work for its maintenance department, the college’s president,
Mr. Spittal said. His wife is a local school
teacher. The couple lived in Central on Old Pendleton Road.
"David
did a little bit of everything for us," Mr. Spittal
said, adding that he and David often traded jokes. "He was such a
dear, dear young man."
Charmaine
Smith can be reached at (864) 260-1269 or by e-mail at smithca@IndependentMail.com.
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