Sunday, August 17, 2008
Compiled from various media sources
Sonora, California — Darvis Lee, Jr., 34, was pulled from the Leo Mine, off Jack Page Road on Bureau of Land Management property, about 5:50 AM Sunday morning after spending nearly 42 hours at the bottom of the mineshaft he'd tumbled down.
Search-and-rescue workers from Tuolumne and Los Angeles Counties pulled Darvis Lee, Jr., of Sonora, CA, from the mine after lowering a rescue worker and a mesh basket into the chasm, according to the Tuolumne County Sheriff's Department. He was released from the local hospital where he was treated for back and leg injuries. His father, Darvis Lee, Sr., said his son was at home and recovering from injuries including chipped bones in his neck, foot, and back, and several lacerations. "He is scraped from the top of his head to his toes. Big bruising too," said Lee Sr.
Lee, Jr. fell into the shaft after he went to explore the mine with a friend, Nathan Grinsell, 33, of Stent, CA. Grinsell said Lee, Jr., who lived near the mine, went in by himself about 9:30 PM. "I didn't want to go," Grinsell said, "so I waited outside the mine for him until about 11:00 PM. I finally decided to try to find him, but I couldn't, so I put his Pepsi and a lantern outside the mine's entrance and went home. I figured he was having a good time exploring, and he'd be okay because he lived right there."
About 150 yards back into the dimly lit passage, Lee, who had a flashlight, fell 15 feet down a vertical shaft, slid at an angle for about 25 feet, and then fell an additional 50 to 70 feet into a pool of water, officials said.
Grinsell couldn't reach Lee, Jr. by phone Saturday morning, so he returned to the mine. "When I saw the Pepsi and lantern still there, I knew he hadn't made it out," Grinsell said. "That's when I went for help." A neighbor, Donald Nute, who was familiar with the mine, went to look for Lee. He was able to make verbal contact with him, said Tuolumne County Sheriff's Deputy Paul Tualla. Nute said Lee told him his legs were injured.
His rescue was delayed because local law enforcement did not have the right equipment and expertise for the job. In the meantime, early Saturday evening, local authorities lowered Lee a helmet, food and water, and a harness to him and the long wait for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's search-and-rescue team—which finally arrived after Midnight—began.
Lying in the back of a pickup truck, Lee apologized for the incident. "I walked in there, and I fell. It was dark, and I didn't know when I was going to stop" he told a local newspaper reporter. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry."
Lee, Jr. was examined and received several X-rays at Sonora Regional Medical Center on Sunday, Lee Sr. said. "He's really banged up bad. Got a lot of pain in his back," Lee, Sr. said of his son, who works in landscaping. "Other than a lot of pain, he's getting along."
Lee, Sr. lauded rescuers' response and dedication getting his son out. "It was exciting to see him come out. Quite a relief," he said. "The rescuers did quite a job—as hard as they were working, and the number of hours they worked. It was really cool to see the state come together."
The rope rescue experts from Los Angeles were required for the effort because of the shaft angles involved.
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