An Indiana construction worker was rescued over the weekend after finding himself trapped in 18-foot-deep trench filled with water up to his shoulders for four hours following a collapse.
Dustin Leake, 35, told reporters he was lucky to be alive following a 'freak' accident on Saturday that nearly cost him his life.
Leake, a veteran construction worker, said he could not breathe or talk throughout the harrowing ordeal.
'You know a lot of people get a life or death scare that lasts 40 seconds,' he recounted. 'Mine lasted four hours. Four hours. I was scared for my life.'
Indiana construction worker Dustin Leake, 35, is lucky to be alive after a freak accident that took place at a work site in Noblesville on Saturday
Leake and his brother were pumping water out of a trench to prepare it for a sewer pipe installation, when the trench caved
Leake was stepping off a ladder when the ground beneath his feet gave way, plunging him into this muck
According to a statement from the Indianapolis Fire Department, a work crew from Millennium Contractors had been on site at 159th Street and Old Pond Road for about three hours on Saturday morning, pumping water out of a trench to prepare it for a sewer pipe installation, when the trench caved it.
Leake has worked for Millennium Construction for the last 14 years
Leake, who has worked for the construction company for 14 years, found himself in a hole filled with muddy water 18 underground the moment he stepped off a ladder onto what he thought was firm ground.
His brother, Devin Leake, also a construction worker, was at the site an witnessed the collapse.
'The ground came out from underneath of me and before I knew it I was pinned up against the plate,' Dustin told Fox 59 after his close call.
Firefighters from Indianapolis and the suburb of Noblesville worked in shifts for the next four hours to stabilize the trench to prevent Leake from drowning while digging gravel out from under him.
Dustin said he felt the waterlogged
