Man trapped in drainage pipe thanks rescuers for his survival

BRIGHTON - Saturday, April 13, started as a regular day for Randy Gardner of Toddville, until one wrong move ended with him being sucked into a pond's overflow pipe, and his life hanging in the balance.

It took nearly three hours and the help of 45 strangers to free Gardner, whose experience left him unsure whether he would ever walk.

Last week, Gardner and his family, along with several volunteers who rushed to his aid, gathered at the Brighton Fire Hall to celebrate the rescue and retell the story.

Gardner said that on that spring day, he knew his pond about three miles east of Brighton had a beaver problem, so he decided to spend his morning mucking out the overflow tube.

The water was about 3 feet high. When he cleared the debris, the tube sucked in as much water as it could and grabbed Gardner's legs in the process. The tube was about 10 inches in diameter, just smaller than the opening of a 5-gallon bucket, and pulling him in at a rate of 85,000 pounds of force per square inch.

'I was underwater, and I could just barely get my lips and nose above water,” he said.

Randy's son, Matthew, raced to save his father, grabbing him and trying to keep his head above water. He ended up getting stuck as well. Once Matthew managed to get free, the two men had a difficult decision to make.

Matthew didn't want to leave but knew it was the only way to save his dad. So he ran to find his cellphone as his father slipped under the water and into unconsciousness.

'When I couldn't see him, I still think about that, it was the scariest part,” Matthew, 21, said.

After calling 911, he activated speakerphone and tossed the phone onto the shore before jumping back into the pond to be with his dad.

After what felt like an eternity, the Brighton Fire Department arrived with mutual aid from Washington Rescue, Washington County Ambulance and the Iowa State Patrol.

'There was definitely hope at that point,” he said of seeing all the responders. 'I didn't think there was any help when we were alone ... (but) once I saw people coming, I knew he had a chance to get out alive.”

Washington rescue diver Jerry Guengerich thought he would be recovering a body, but was elated to learn a rescue still was possible. He suited up and jumped in, holding Gardner up for the remainder of the nearly three-hour rescue.

Guengerich said it was apparent there was no way for him to pull Gardner out unless the water went down. Volunteers called dispatch to see if anyone in the area had a backhoe they could borrow to help dig out the dam to lower the water levels.

Ron and Jane Janecek were on their way out of town when they got a call about needing help with a rescue. They turned their car around and went back to the farm.

Ron Janecek had an excavator nearby. He loaded it on a trailer and had it down to the pond in 45 minutes. He said once he got there, his heart dropped as the severity of the situation settled in.

'I get over the hill and it's like a little small city. There's 30, 40 people, cops, ambulances. Then it's like, ‘OK. This is really serious,'” he said.

He maneuvered the backhoe in and began to dig the dam out to lower the water, which lowered the pressure in the pond, making it possible for rescuers to free Gardner.

Capt. Mark Cobb with the Brighton Fire Department said when they finally got Gardner free, it was a huge relief.

But the pressure from the pipe had caused Gardner to lose circulation in his legs, and when he was pulled to shore, they were completely black. He said he thought he would have to have them amputated.

Randy's wife, Lisa, was in Cedar Rapids when she got a call from her son saying Randy was alive, but being airlifted to the hospital.

'It was horrible,” she said. 'I knew that everyone was alive and OK and so I was very thankful for that, but I had no idea what to expect.”

Lisa said she is thankful for the volunteers who pulled off the 'miracle” of keeping her husband alive.

'It's so wonderful to think people are so good and so willing to volunteer their time and efforts to help save people,” she said. 'There's a lot more good than bad in this world.”

Nearly two months after the accident, Randy Gardner has some nerve damage but is able to walk. At the banquet Monday night, he was emotional as he shook hands and hugged his rescuers, crediting them for saving his life.

'I can't thank you guys enough,” he said. 'You can go home tonight and know you absolutely saved a life. What you do makes a huge difference and I'm an example of that.”