An electrician trapped inside a scorching 130-foot sign with no way down recorded a tearful goodbye message for his wife and kids before a miraculous rescue.
Honestly, when I first read about this story my heart just sank. It was a hot July afternoon in Wilmington, Illinois at a Petro Travel Center off Interstate 55. The worker was doing routine maintenance inside a massive sign about thirteen stories high. Because the structure was baking in the heat he asked his partner to lower the bucket lift to grab some water and a fan. But when the partner tried coming back up the lift malfunctioned completely and stopped moving. That left the man stranded at 130 feet with no internal ladders to climb down.
As hours passed by without shade or water, the heat inside became unbearable. By two in the afternoon heat exhaustion set in fast. He started feeling dizzy and nauseous. He called down to his coworker asking him to contact emergency services.
He admitted later that he was genuinely terrified in those scary moments. That is when he pulled out his phone and recorded emotional farewell messages for his beloved family. He said it was essentially a goodbye without saying goodbye so they would know his love if the worst happened.
Thankfully God had a plan for his safety. When the Wilmington Fire Protection District arrived their ladder trucks could only reach 100 feet which left them short.
Rescuers quickly launched a drone to watch him while they scrambled to find bigger equipment. The Illinois State Police escorted a massive replacement boom lift from Joliet to the scene.
Technical rescue team members rode up, transferred the worker to safety, and brought him down uninjured after six hours.
Honestly when you think about what happened up there it really was a miracle that he made it out alive. Being stuck 130 feet up in a metal sign on a hot summer day is absolutely dangerous.
A closed space like that acts like an oven where temperatures quickly climb way over a hundred degrees. Sitting up there for six long hours without water can cause severe heatstroke, organ failure, or loss of consciousness.. If he had passed out from the heat thirteen stories in the air, he could have easily fallen before anyone could reach him.
Humanly speaking the odds were completely stacked against him. The local fire truck ladders were not even long enough to reach him up there. The clock was ticking fast while he was trapped inside that high metal box in the air, nervous and totally exhausted. But God kept him conscious through those scary hours and gave the rescue crew wisdom to coordinate his rescue. It shows us that God is our true refuge when human strength fails.
I was so touched by the goodbye message he recorded for his family. Sometimes we take our own families for granted, but it is in moments like this that we realize just how precious they really are to us. We should always hold our families close and thank God for His everyday blessings.
Please pray for God to watch over everyone working in dangerous high-altitude jobs and protect our brave first responders.
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” – Psalm 46:1 (NKJV)
WATCH: Electrician Trapped 130 Feet High Records Farewell Message to Wife and Kids Before Rescue
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