Genius way man survived after becoming trapped in 15ft remote forest ravine when bridge collapsed
Britt Jones
Featured Image Credit: WVLT/GoFundMe
A man who fell into a ravine in Hawaii is recovering from ‘full body bruises’ and other injuries he sustained after being trapped there for three nights.
Friends and family are shocked that 41-year-old Ian Goodsell survived the terrifying ordeal after falling into 15-ft deep water last month.
According to his family, they aren’t entirely sure how he ended up at the ravine, however his ex-wife, Alta Goodsell, believes he could have been working.
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She told Island News: “My understanding is he was actually on a land where he was caretaking. And I’m not sure if he was clearing a trail or what happened.”
Whereas his brother, Garrett, thinks Ian was ‘probably collecting fruit or hiking’ at the time when the bridge collapsed.
They went on to share that he had been crossing an old bridge off Kamaili Road when it fell beneath him.
With no way to get out and save himself, Ian had to think of ways to keep himself alive in such tough conditions.
His family believes he used his tank top to soak up water to keep himself hydrated.
However, there was another hurdle he had to overcome, which is astounding that he survived.
Ian is epileptic and needs to take daily medication, which he didn’t have access to.
This meant that he also had to endure numerous dangerous seizures while he was in the ravine.
Without food and only able to drink small amounts of water, Ian was left severely hydrated and starving when he was eventually found.
Alta explained: “I still don’t know any of the details. I know that he said he had numerous seizures while he was down there.
“He has epilepsy medicine he takes every day and didn’t have access to that so he was there having seizures. I know it rained a lot, thankfully it was before the hurricane.”
It was days later that someone managed to hear Ian calling for help and alerted the authorities who quickly pulled up to the scene.
Firefighters sounded their sirens to let him know they were there and followed his voice.
Hawaii Fire Department Deputy Fire Chief Daniel Volpe said: “They started getting that call back, started hearing a person calling back, and they were able to follow his voice.
“And started moving their way into the bushes. Thick grass, I guess it was an old road, it was pretty overgrown.”
600-feet from the road, there Ian was.
Garrett explained the condition the responders found Ian in: “He had just enough energy to tell them that he had been down there for three nights and he had been having seizures down there.
“They had to intubate him when he got into the hospital because basically, his body just shut down. They put him on a ventilator. He was like that for a week.”
Now, Ian is off the ventilator but is still struggling to speak due to his injuries.
Garrett added: “The ER nurse described it as having full body wounds, full body bruising, and acute liver damage from severe dehydration.
“He had really bad pneumonia, and he was having a hard time breathing on his own.”
Believing that Ian managed to live because of his two young sons, Garrett said he thinks ‘he just held on to the idea of them not knowing that their dad died in a ditch’.
The family has since created a GoFundMe to support Ian's medical fees and recovery.