| Name | Age | Sex | Injuries | Injured areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cranian, Charles | 43 | Male | Not recorded | Not recorded |
At 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 6, Charles Cranian (43), a teacher, entered a cave near Route 7 near Danby, Vermont in the company of another teacher and several boys from the school. Some distance into the cave Cranian announced he "wasn't having fun" and started out. The rest continued for a short distance and then started out also. They soon encountered Cranian, lying down and gasping for breath. They couldn't move him and so left the cave for help.
The first rescuers on the scene were two locals who entered the cave at 4:30 p.m. and found the victim some 200 feet from the entrance, "lying on his back screaming for help." The two got one in front and one behind and began dragging the man toward the entrance. This proved too dificult in the narrow, twisting cave and they went to the entrance and got a rope and two members of the Manchester Rescue Squad. The four then returned to the victim and used a rope arrangement to maneuver him through tight and difficult places. Meanwhile the victim "kept moaning and yelling that he was in shock." At 9:15 they emerged from the cave, with the victim semi- conscious and talking weakly. At a hospital he was found to be unhurt.
Analysis: This appears to be a simple case of claustrophobia. I believe that many people have a potential for this and that one result is the relative unpopularity of caving as a sport. Certainly anyone with a dislike for closed spaces should not be talked into caving or he could end up as a basket case like this one.
Novice caver suffers from extreme claustrophobia in Morris Cave, Vermont, and is extracted from the cave uninjured.
Freakout. Hauled out uninjured. Rutland Herald (Vermont) 12/7/78.
This record was last updated on 27th Apr 2024 at 23:11 UTC.