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The victims name is Nathan Woessner from Sterling, IL..





http://www.wsbt.com/wsbt-boy-rescued-from-...0,6044387.story

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Audio of the initial 911 emergency call:

http://tribwgntv.files.wordpress.com/2013/...cell-911-13.wav

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Still in critical last I heard.

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Powerful rescue details

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2013/0...a0679272986.txt

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Michigan City Police Department
Mount Baldy Closure Extended at National Lakeshore:

INDIANA DUNES NATIONAL LAKESHORE: The National Park Service has extended the closure of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore’s Mount Baldy indefinitely. The extension is needed to bring in additional resources for the investigation of the hole that opened up on July 12 trapping a six-year old boy for 3 ½ hours. The boy was rescued and is currently in critical condition at a Chicago hospital.

Based on evidence gathered at the scene, park officials are looking into the possibility that the hole was created by a long-buried tree that had decomposed leaving a void in the sand. While no such occurrence has ever been observed in the park, officials plan to bring in ground sensing equipment to look under the surface of the dune to see if voids or other potential hazards can be identified. Additional expertise is being sought from the Geologic Resource Division of the National Park Service and other sources. A safety protocol is also being developed before park staff or researchers are allowed onto Mt. Baldy.

Park officials stress that the closure is being strictly enforced to protect the public. The closure includes, Mount Baldy, its parking lot, trails and beach area. Signs are posted warning of the closure. Anyone entering the closed area is subject to law enforcement action.

www.nps.gov/indu
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is part of the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 401 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov.

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http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/laporte...f03070b919.html

CHICAGO | Nathan Woessner, the 6-year-old boy who was swallowed in a sinkhole at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, is expected to be taken off a ventilator by the end of the week and released from the hospital in 10 to 14 days.

His doctor, Tracy Koogler, said she hoped for a full recovery but said the sand in his lungs could potentially cause long term problems.

The Sterling, Ill., boy is being treated at the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital, said Loma Wong, a spokeswoman for The University of Chicago Medicine and Biological Sciences.

He fell 11 feet into the sand at Mount Baldy while climbing to the top with his father during a family vacation.

Woessner remains sedated while doctors try to wash his lungs clean of sand.

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http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/pa...5f60f4b231.html

MICHIGAN CITY | The National Park Service has extended the closure of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore’s Mount Baldy section indefinitely while park employees investigate whether more underground depressions could collapse and endanger visitors to this popular recreation area.

A cavity halfway up the sand dune, which towers 123 feet over the nearby Lake Michigan shoreline, swallowed Nathan Woessner, 6, of Sterling, Ill., on Friday afternoon. Rescuers eventually dug him out from a hole 11-feet deep.

The accident has launched an investigation and debate into whether forces of geology and weather caused this cavity or it was man-made.

Bruce Rowe, public information officer of the park service, said Monday they are looking into the possibility the hole was created by a long-buried tree that had decomposed and left a void in the sand.

The park service is bringing in ground-sensing equipment to look under the dune's surface "to see if voids or other potential hazards can be identified."

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http://news.yahoo.com/involved-agree-sand-...-205059378.html

CHICAGO (AP) — One minute, 6-year-old Nathan Woessner was scampering up a massive dune in northern Indiana with his dad and a friend. He was gone the next, without a warning or sound.

More than three hours later, rescuers pulled Nathan out from under 11 feet of sand on Friday. He showed no signs of life: He was cold to the touch, had no pulse and wasn't breathing. His limp body was put into the back of a pickup truck, which started toward a waiting ambulance.

The plan was to take him to the hospital rather than the coroner's office, even if he was dead, in order to "give the family and rescue workers hope," La Porte (Ind.) County Chief Deputy Coroner Mark Huffman said Monday.

As the truck bounced over the dune, a medic noticed something astonishing: The boy took a breath. Then, a cut on his head started bleeding. The jolt apparently shocked Nathan's body back to life, Huffman said. Nathan was rushed to the hospital and was crying in the emergency room when Huffman arrived a few minutes later.

"Man, I tell you that was such a great feeling," Huffman said. "This is not something that I as the chief deputy coroner get to report that often. It's an absolute miracle this child survived."
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FILE - In this July 12, 2013 file photo, Michigan City …
FILE - In this July 12, 2013 file photo, Michigan City police and firefighters dig with shovels to r …

Nathan, of Sterling, Ill., remains in critical condition at the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital, but he is expected to recover and be released in 10 to 14 days, Dr. Tracy Koogler said Monday. Of greatest concern is his lungs, as the amount of sand he breathed in could lead to asthma-like symptoms, she said.

Don Reul, Nathan's grandfather, was getting ready for bed after a long day of tooling around on motorcycles in New York state with his wife and another couple when the phone rang. On the other end was the "hysterical" voice of his daughter, Faith Woessner.

"She said, 'Dad, Dad, we can't find him, he's under the sand,'" said Reul, a minister from Galva, Ill.

But he understood little else, and by the time he hung up, he believed that his grandson had fallen on the beach at Indiana Dunes National Seashore and had been pulled into Lake Michigan.

"I said, 'Nathan has died, he's drowned,'" Reul told his wife.
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Don Ruel, the grandfather of six year-old Nathan Woessner …
Don Ruel, the grandfather of six year-old Nathan Woessner speaks during a news conference, at the Un …

The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, running for about 25 miles along the southern shore of Lake Michigan, is a popular vacation spot that has long attracted families, hikers and birdwatchers. The dune Nathan fell feet-first into is one of the tallest, the 123-foot-tall Mount Baldy.

Nathan's 8-year-old friend rushed to where his dad and Nathan's dad were, and told them Nathan had vanished. Reul said that by the time Nathan's father found the hole, he could hear his son, but not see him.

The two men frantically dug sand from the spot where Nathan had fallen, but stopped after it was about 4 feet deep, Reul said, realizing they might have driven Nathan "deeper and deeper." Faith Woessner, meanwhile, was begging people to help them dig.

Michigan City, Ind., firefighters soon arrived and excavating companies brought backhoes and other heavy equipment to try to catch up with the boy, who was still sinking into the sand. According to media reports, the first responders pushed a rod down into the sand in the hopes of finding the boy.

Hours passed without a sign of Nathan. Huffman, the coroner, who said he had been hanging back from the dig site out of respect for the family, arrived on the scene, which Reul said must have been a sure sign that officials feared the worst: It wouldn't be a rescue.
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Dr. Tracy Koogler, medical director of pediatric intensive …
Dr. Tracy Koogler, medical director of pediatric intensive care at the University of Chicago Medical …

Then, volunteer firefighter Ryan Miller, the vice president of an excavating company, spotted the outline of what looked like a rotten tree about 11 feet down — maybe more — and pushed the rod until it stopped at the boy. Michigan City firefighter Brad Kreighbaum reached down and "felt what he believed to be Nathan's head," Miller said.

It was just in time, as there was no air pocket surrounding Nathan.

"He was fully encapsulated in sand," Miller said, noting it took about five firefighters to pull him out.

Once the family heard the boy was bleeding, Reul said, "Hope began to bubble up ... that Nathan's not gone."

He was airlifted Friday night to the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital from an Indiana hospital.
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Dr. Tracy Koogler, medical director of pediatric intensive …
Dr. Tracy Koogler, medical director of pediatric intensive care at the University of Chicago Medical …

"I expected him to arrive much sicker than he did," said Koogler, medical director of the pediatric intensive care unit.

Nathan was sedated so doctors could remove as much of the sand in his lungs as possible. She said Monday doctors don't see any more sand particles but believe some are still in there.

Doctors also said early neurological tests didn't reveal any brain damage; Nathan can move his arms, legs, fingers and toes. Koogler also said Nathan's eyes appear to be fine, adding he must have had closed them while buried in the sand.

She said the biggest concern remains the boy's lungs, telling reporters Monday that Nathan could develop asthmalike symptoms in the months to come but that the injury to his lungs was "not nearly as severe as I expected it to be."

Koogler said if Nathan continues to recover at the same rate, he would likely be taken off the ventilator by the end of the week and released from the hospital in 10 to 14 days, but may need another month in a rehab facility.
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In this July 12, 2013, photo rescue workers with heavy …
In this July 12, 2013, photo rescue workers with heavy equipment working to free 6-year-old Nathan W …

In six months, she said, 'I'm hoping that he's going to be acting like a normal 6- to 7-year-old, riding a bicycle, doing what a normal 6- or 7-year-old does."

Reul said that before he and his wife heard anything about his grandson, he experienced sharp, stabbing pains in his chest. Reul was not ready to say Monday that those pains happened at approximately the time his grandson fell into the sinkhole.

But he was sure of what happened after: "It is a miracle."

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There has been a fund to help the family of the Mt Baldy Miracle through the efforts of 4 of the firefighters who helped at the rescue scene. All of the details are available here at the Unity Foundation of LaPorte County's website, following this link.

http://uflc.net/funds/the-mount-baldy-miracle/

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http://www.in.gov/activecalendar/EventList...icate=syndicate

INDIANAPOLIS – Governor Mike Pence today issued the following statement commending the first responders and rescuers for their efforts to save the life of a young Illinois boy who was trapped under eleven feet of sand for more than three hours last Friday. The child is currently recovering at a Chicago hospital.

“As I told Michigan City Mayor Ron Meer yesterday, I express my deepest admiration and utmost gratitude for the Michigan City first responders and all others involved whose efforts were paramount to the rescue of young Nathan Woessner last week.

“They include the Michigan City Police and Fire Departments, Fire Chief Ronnie Martin, Firefighter Brad Kreighbaum, the LaPorte County EMS, St. Anthony Health in Michigan City, the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Park Rangers, including Bruce Rowe, the University of Chicago Medical Center and Comer’s Children’s Hospital, including Dr. Tracy Koogler and fellow doctors, D&M Excavators, Woodruff & Son Excavators, NIPSCO, the Red Cross, LaPorte Deputy Coroner Mark Huffman, volunteer firefighter Ryan Miller, local lifeguards and volunteers. Their courage, commitment and persistence epitomize the character of our great state and illustrate for the world the quality and compassion of Hoosiers.

“As the young boy’s father said to me, ‘This is everyone’s miracle.’ I wholeheartedly agree and commend these brave men and women for their swift work in bringing this young boy to safety and improved health.”

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http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/laporte...0b150a3b98.html

Vanessa Renderman vanessa.renderman@nwi.com, (219) 933-3244
The Investigation

The National Park Service will use special equipment to study the ground beneath Mount Baldy to try to determine why it swallowed 6-year-old Nathan Woessner.

The Illinois child remained in critical but stable condition Wednesday, after falling into a hole at the dune Friday, where he was trapped more than three hours under 11 feet of sand.

Bruce Rowe, a ranger at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, said rescuers found decayed bark when they reached Nathan, indicating a decayed tree trunk might have caused the hole.

Source: Associated Press

MICHIGAN CITY | Word arrived about 4 p.m. Friday. A boy was trapped under the weight of Mount Baldy, a behemoth sand dune at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

The boy was vacationing with his family and stepped into a sinkhole.

Nearly 2 miles away, the emergency room staff at Franciscan St. Anthony Health hospital in Michigan City was in a holding pattern on the case.

"At that point, it was 'possibly somebody buried,'" Dr. Justin Hepker said.

Hepker, a new doctor, was on duty that day in the emergency room.

"It was my third shift here," he said. "I literally graduated residency and had been a full-time doctor for two weeks."

He and the rest of the team waited.

"It became hour after hour of waiting," he said.

After digging more than three hours, rescuers pulled 6-year-old Nathan Woessner from under 11 feet of sand. Five minutes later, he arrived in the Michigan City emergency room. His eyes were open.

"He was not responding very much," Hepker said.

First responders had stabilized the Sterling, Ill., boy's spine and administered oxygen, but he was still in bad shape.

"He was very sick when he hit our ER," Hepker said. "He was very cold, just being that deep under the ground. He was in shock."

Doctors think he may have been saved by an air pocket in the dune.

Still, his airway was filled with sand, blocking Hepker's first attempt at inserting a breathing tube. Nathan was dehydrated, so a hole was drilled into his leg bone to administer fluids via an intraosseous IV. The procedure, although it may sound gruesome, is common practice, efficient and less painful than a peripheral IV, Hepker said.

Sand was everywhere — in clothes, on the floor.

As staff worked to stabilize the boy, Hepker said his adrenaline took over and trauma care procedures kicked in.

"There's no textbook way to prepare for a burial (victim)," he said.

Hepker's rotation at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn — the nation's fourth-busiest trauma center — helped prepare him.

"As an ER doctor, you go back to the basics," he said. "Not panic. Not go off course. That's what we're trained for — to stay calm."

In a short amount of time, Nathan was ready for transfer to the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital.

"We put the airway in, got fluids going," Hepker said. "The decision to transfer was made before he got to the ER. We have a lot of capabilities, but at the end of the day, he needs specialists."

Hepker said the teamwork to stabilize the boy and have him airlifted to Chicago was amazing. Only 47 minutes lapsed from the time Nathan was pulled from the dune until he was loaded in the helicopter.

"It was just an awesome effort," Hepker said.

Hepker remains close to the boy's family, getting daily updates on his condition.

Nathan remains in critical condition, receiving daily saltwater flushes on his lungs. Doctors hope that with rehabilitation, he can attend school in the fall and return to a normal life.

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They'll have to REMOVE Mount Baldy to make the park safe for the future.

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They'll have to REMOVE Mount Baldy to make the park safe for the future.

Let me get Ball Mason on the line...

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http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/laporte...02765910fb.html

Joyce Russell joyce.russell@nwi.com, (219) 762-1397, ext. 2222
Local doctor shares story of treating boy who fell in dune

MICHIGAN CITY | Word arrived about 4 p.m. Friday. A boy was trapped under the weight of Mount Baldy, a behemoth sand dune at the Indiana Dunes… Read more

MICHIGAN CITY | The collapse of a portion of Mount Baldy nearly a week ago remains a mystery and still has geologists from across the nation scratching their heads.

Bruce Rowe, a ranger at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, said reports from staff members at a meeting Thursday morning held no revelations.

Rowe said staff talked to experts in the Geological Resource Division of the National Park Service and geologists from various universities who specialize in the Great Lakes Coastal region.

"Even the experts we went to are stumped," he said.

It has been nearly a week since the sand dune opened up and swallowed 6-year-old Nathan Woessner of Sterling, Ill. He remains in critical condition at the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital. He was buried in 11 feet of sand for more than three hours July 12 before rescuers found him.

The next step, said Rowe, is to bring in equipment to conduct two levels of study on the area.

First, a conductivity survey of all 43 acres of the face of Mount Baldy will be conducted. That equipment has the ability to find anomalies below the surface of the sand. Then, when those anomalies are found, ground penetrating radar will be brought in to investigate the areas further.

Rowe said it could be a couple of weeks before the equipment is brought in.

Until then, the Mount Baldy area will remain closed to visitors. Rowe said they will install more closure signs on the beach side of the dune to advise people to stay off.

They are also putting together a safety protocol for staff members or researchers in the area. Until that is completed, staff is also banned from the area.

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WSBT-TV
‪#‎BreakingNews‬: Good news! The boy rescued from a sinkhole in Michigan City has been upgraded from critical to serious condition.

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Boy swallowed by dune upgraded to serious condition

By: Associated Press
Updated: Thu 3:32 PM, Jul 18, 2013


Michigan City, Ind. Doctors say the 6-year-old Illinois boy rescued after spending hours buried beneath an Indiana sand dune is improving at a Chicago hospital.

Dr. Rachel Wolfson of Comer Children's Hospital says Nathan Woessner's condition has been upgraded from critical to serious. He's been removed from a ventilator and he's breathing on his own. The doctor says he's recovering from sedation and he continues to respond to commands.

The Sterling boy was buried for more than three hours at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore before rescuers pulled him from 11 feet of sand on Friday. He was limp and cold, but began breathing on his way to the hospital.

Doctors have said the boy is expected to make a full neurological recovery, though he may suffer lingering lung problems from inhaling sand.

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A heartfelt thank you from the family of the Mt Baldy Miracle. Awesome stuff.

http://www.today.com/news/parents-boy-buri...uers-6C10701861

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"Nathan is listed in good condition and continues to improve. He returns to a regular diet today and can leave his room to visit the playroom," says Dr. Diana Mitchell, 6-year-old Nathan Woessner's current physician. More here: http://www.wsbt.com/news/wsbt-child-rescue...0,1977705.story

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Usually you hear stories about predator dunes child snatchers, rip tide drownings and the like, but nothing....nothing like this.

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http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/laporte...7e71af8a21.html

Staff and Wire Reports

CHICAGO | Six-year-old Nathan Woessner of Sterling, Ill, continues to improve 10 days after being rescued from beneath 11 feet of sand July 12 at the Mount Baldy area of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

In a statement released Monday by The University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital, officials said Nathan is in good condition and continues to improve.

"He returns to a regular diet today and can leave his room to visit the playroom," said Dr. Diana Mitchell in a written statement.

Nathan was buried for more than three hours in Mount Baldy before rescuers were able to reach him. He was breathing on his own when he first arrived at the hospital. Doctors said an air pocket in the dune could be the reason he survived.

He has since been at the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital where his condition continues to steadily improve. On Friday, Nathan began eating for the first time.

Nathan's parents, Greg and Faith Woessner, appeared on the "Today Show" on Monday. His parents recounted the chaotic scene of rescuers trying to pull his son from the sinkhole.

"I just had such panic and fear and desperation to get to him," Faith Woessner said.

Greg Woessner told the "Today Show" he remembers frantically running toward his son.

"This sense of calmness held me tight just to focus on what we needed to do that day," he said on the program.

When the boy was intubated, two front teeth that had been loose were knocked out, according to his grandfather, Don Reul.

"We're saving them for him, and they're going to put them under his pillow at some point," Reul told The LaPorte Herald-Argus.

Nathan sustained scrapes on his face and a cut on his head that required more than 20 staples, and his each of his corneas was scratched from the sand, his grandfather said.

"The ophthalmologist has been in, and they don't see anything (serious). His motor skills are good so there doesn't seem to be any damage in that area," Reul said. "He's coming along at a rapid rate in his recovery, so we're just really happy about where things are and how they're progressing.

Since coming out of a coma and starting to speak to relatives, the boy has not mentioned his entrapment, the grandfather added.

"He hasn't had any recollection so far that he's told us about, and we're hoping that he has none," Reul said.