Ho Chi Minh City Seeing a cat stuck in a wall crack nearly 20 meters deep, Ms. Hoa tied a rope to her body and swung down from the top floor to save it, but met with an accident.
Sand scene rescues Ms. Hoa stuck in a wall crack nearly 20 meters deep. Video: Provided by the police
On the evening of June 16, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Hoa, 32 years old, living on Ngo Quyen Street (District 10) was still in shock after being rescued by the police after being stuck under a 30cm wide wall gap. She had to lie down due to scratches all over her body, and had to get 20 stitches for a torn knee when she fell from the top of a 4-story house while trying to save her pet.
At around 8am that same day, she heard from her neighbours that her long-haired cat imported from England had been missing for a week and was stuck between the side wall of her house. She went up to the terrace to check. When she used a flashlight to shine down the dark gap, she saw the cat standing on the corrugated iron roof blocking the rain from entering the window nearly ten metres above the ground. It kept meowing loudly when its owner called its name.
Fearing that the cat would starve to death, Ms. Hoa tried to tie a cage with food inside and then let a rope down for the animal to get in, but to no avail. She used a parachute cord (the kind used to tie hammocks) to the railing of the top floor, wrapped it around her waist, put on a helmet and swung down the gap with the intention of bringing the cat up. Halfway down, the parachute cord broke, and the woman, who weighed about 40 kg, slid down below.
"My whole body was scraping against the rough cement, it was very painful. If I hadn't had a helmet, my head would have hit the wall and I wouldn't have survived," she said. In the small space, unable to move, she panicked and called for help but to no avail. After a few minutes of calming down, she picked up the phone and called 114. When the operator answered, the woman provided information about her condition and home address.
Ms. Hoa was stuck between two walls after falling from the top floor of a 4-story house. Minh Nghiem
About 5 minutes later, Captain Phan Cong Hanh, 37 years old, was at the headquarters of the District 10 Fire Police Department, 500 meters away, when he received a request for assistance. He and nearly 10 teammates arrived at the scene. Standing on the top floor looking down, people could barely see anything without shining a flashlight down. Both ends of the wall had been sealed. Captain Hanh tried to speak down to understand the victim's situation and at the same time come up with a rescue plan.
The rescue team determined that if the victim was calm, they could drop the belt to pull him up. In more difficult situations, the team had to go down to reach him to rescue him. However, the wall gap was too narrow, with some sections only 20cm wide, so the second option was very difficult to implement and time-consuming. Meanwhile, using a drill to cut the wall could affect the structure of the house. If the rescue process was prolonged, the injured victim would lose blood, endangering his life.
At this time, when hearing Ms. Hoa's answer that she was still conscious, Mr. Hanh and his teammates decided to use a device to break the window frame, pump oxygen while continuously reassuring her. The soldiers brought down thick protective clothing for the victim to wear to avoid injury due to friction when pulling her up. Then they dropped two safety belts for the victim to tie to her legs and shoulders. Of which, the rope from the top floor would pull the person up, the rope from the third floor window would hold the victim to avoid shaking and hitting the rough wall.
Captain Hanh recounts the moment he rescued the victim from the wall. Photo: Dinh Van
After the preparations, Ms. Hoa was pulled up. Four policemen took turns holding both ends of the rope and shouted loudly to rhythmically lift the victim up. The others held the end of the rope to prevent the victim from falling back down. After nearly 30 minutes, Ms. Hoa was pulled to the third floor window, still conscious despite her weak health. Mr. Hanh used his hand to cover the wound on the victim's knee and then together with his teammates took her to the emergency room.
"When I got to the hospital, blood was all over my pants and shoes, but she kept asking about the cat," he said.
According to the commander of the District 10 Fire Police Team, Ms. Hoa's case was very rare as she was stuck in a narrow gap 20-30 cm wide. The victim survived because she was wearing a helmet and did not suffer any head injuries. The fall was nearly 10 meters above the ground so the woman did not suffer any serious injuries. The most fortunate thing was that the victim had a phone to contact emergency services in time, otherwise her life would have been in danger.
Dinh Van
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