Man trapped in a garbage truck in Rye
A sleeping man was mere seconds from disaster after he was emptied into a garbage truck — before the watchful driver noticed something unusual in the back.
South East
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A man who was trapped in a garbage truck in Rye after he fell asleep in a bin before it was emptied into the back of the truck is lucky to be alive.
CFA crews from Rye were first to arrive on the scene in Tarwill St about 8am this morning.
The man had fallen asleep in a tall 240-litre bin on the nature strip before the garbage truck arrived and emptied him into the back.
Rye CFA second lieutenant Eddie Matt said the 21-year-old man from Rye was lucky to be alive thanks to a diligent truck driver.
“The drivers have this monitor inside the cab so they can see what goes in the back when they empty the bins and before they crush everything,” he said.
“The driver said he saw the bloke move just before he was about to push the mush button and hit the stop button and jumped out and had a look.”
Mr Matt said when he arrived the man was sitting upright but was pinned.
Once ambulances had arrived they gave the man some pain relief drugs so he could be comfortably extricated.
“The Sorrento SES arrived and did the extraction and managed to use slings to lift him onto a backboard,” Mr Matt said.
“He was lifted from the truck and we used ladders to get up there and bring him down.
“The rescue took about an hour all up.”
The man was taken to the Rye football oval from where he was flown to the Royal Melbourne Hospital with leg injuries.
Mr Matt said he had heard stories of things like this happening but had never seen anything like it.
“It was just so fortunate the operator checked before he mushed the garbage, and the man, in the back of the truck,” he said.
“The truck was full with about six tonnes of garbage.
“We wouldn’t have known about him until it got to the tip. He was very lucky.
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