A demolition worker was flown to Mission Hospital in Asheville, NC after a fallen steel pipe pinned him in a trackhoe at the old Ecusta site in Brevard.

At 10:44 a.m., the Brevard Fire Department received a call that a person was pinned in an industrial trackhoe, according to Assistant Fire Chief Bradley Elmore.

“Upon arrival, rescue workers found a 35-foot, 12-inch steel pipe that had fallen from the third floor of a building under demolition,” Elmore said in a press release issued Monday afternoon.

The pipe penetrated the roof of the cab of the trackhoe and pinned the operator to the rear of the cab and seat, according to Elmore.

“Stabilization of the steel pipe was difficult due to its size and weight,” he said. “Using multiple chains, cribbing and various extrication equipment along with another trackhoe from the site, rescue workers were able to stabilize the top of the pipe,” he said. “A short ram was used to finally lift the pipe approximately six inches from the patient.”

Once the pipe was lifted off the patient, rescue workers immediately requested Mission Hospitals MAMA helicopter. Transylvania County paramedics and MAMA flight paramedics attended to the patient while the fire department conducted rescue operations.

“The patient was conscious during the extrication, which took one hour,” Elmore said.

Looking at the picture, he is very lucky to be alive today.