Much like the heroes of “Star Wars: A New Hope”, an Alabama man recently survived nearly being crushed to death alongside garbage, according to a local news report out of Jackson, Ala.
WKRG reported that a man who officials believe was homeless was crushed twice in a garbage truck. It said officials think he may have been sleeping in a dumpster for warmth and got deposited into the vehicle.
“I’ve been associated with the fire department for 40 years. We’ve never had a situation like this come up,” said Fire Chief John Brown, according to WKRG.
As the driver of the garbage truck arrived at a Popeye’s restaurant, during the early morning hours last Wednesday, he found that the gates were closed. When he got out of the truck, the driver heard the man in the back, Brown said.
He added that the locked gate was a lucky obstacle. Before the dump truck arrived at the fast food restaurant, it made stops at a KFC and a Hampton Inn, meaning that the man was likely compressed twice during his journey in the truck.
Audacy previously reported on garbage truck survival stories out of Hartford, Ill., and out of Manchester, N.H., both in 2024. In Hartford, emergency responders saved a man who had severe pain in his leg after getting stuck in the garbage truck. Fire Chief Ryan J. Cashin of the Manchester Fire Department was as stunned as chief Brown in Jackson when a woman was rescued from a garbage truck in his town.
“I have never seen one like this,” he said.
Emergency officials were called to the Popeye’s scene in Jackson at around 5:30 a.m. Volunteer firefighter Mendy Boldin – one of the first responders on scene – said she expected to find the worst after hearing about the incident.
“We were all shocked because we thought, well, we’re going to have to get down there and really do some trauma assistance to him to get him out,” she said. “But he was fine.”
He was transported to a Mobile, Ala., hospital for treatment. Boldin added: “That was a God thing,” about his survival.