Sudbury man spooked, but OK after being trapped in driveway sinkhole

It's a good thing Mario Hamel isn't claustrophobic.

The Sudbury, Ont. man was getting out of his truck Wednesday in the driveway of the apartment he rents in Garson when the ground literally fell beneath his feet.

Hamel found himself stuck in a sinkhole hardly wide enough for a man to slip through, trapped at the waist with his arms in the air and only his hands poking out.

"I was down past my head," recalled Hamel one day after his ordeal.

"I was there at least for a good 30 or 40 minutes. I was yelling, people were walking by, but nobody could see me."

"When you're going down, you're thinking, 'How far am I going to fall and what's my final destination going to be?'"

Hamel said it was only after a few minutes of struggling that he was able to reassuringly touch the ground with one foot.

Eventually, he was able to extend his arms enough to reach his cellphone, which had fallen nearby, and called911.

Ordeal not over

Paramedics and police arrived but still weren't able to pull Hamel out.

He explained how one paramedic eventually used a shovel to chisel away enough mud and asphalt to tie a blanket around Hamel's waist.

That gave first responders leverage to pull the 5'7" man out of his predicament.

"I was happy," Hamel said with a chuckle when asked about his first thoughts after being freed. "I've got two kids, you know. They need me, that's my life."

He added he saw his 11-year-old neighbour biking around on the same spot one day before.

"I'm happy it was me, not a little kid. That little man would have went through, and then goodbye, you know," said Hamel.

About 24 hours after his ordeal, Hamel was walking with a strong limp and suffering from a sore back, knee and shoulder. Otherwise, though, he said he's happy to be alive.

"You realize you can't control when you're going to go. It could happen in anyone's yard," Hamel noted.

He's also parking his truck on the other side of the driveway from now on.

"I'm lucky I have enough belly and muscle to stop me, because I would have went down all the way through. Then who knows what would have happened?"

Hamel explained the contractor working to repair the sinkhole told him the crevasse was apparently caused by a very old septic bed which had been incorrectly covered over many years ago.