Gofirstclass
Well-Known Member
A pensioner has escaped uninjured after he spent 11 hours pinned to his bed after his ceiling collapsed under the weight of 7,000 yachting magazines. Richard Phillips, 77, was discovered trapped yesterday under chunks of the ceiling and 150 boxes filled with the magazines at his home in Goldhanger, Essex. Firefighters spent 45 minutes removing the boxes and rubble at the man's home. Mr Phillips escaped unhurt.
Officers believe the ceiling collapsed under the weight of the boxes filled with the same magazine which he had stored in his loft for 10 years. Mr Phillips was discovered by his concerned next door neighbour Tony Piercy, 72, who helps look after him at 11am yesterday morning. Mr Piercy a grandfather-of-five, said: 'He was almost crushed to death.
'He was lucky. If one of the ceiling beams landed on his head he could have died. Secondly if we had not gone round to check up on him he could have been stuck under there for goodness knows how long. I went into his home, just to check on things because his carer had not heard from him. When I got to his room I called out and he just said "I'm stuck".
'So I tried to open the door but it was jammed pretty tight and he just kept shouting "I can't move I can't move". So I went into auto pilot and just bashed his door in. Then to my amazement I discovered the entire ceiling had caved in.
"He was trapped under chunks of plaster and ceiling beams. I pulled some of the rubble off and then called the fire service. He is such a lovely bloke I am so glad nothing more serious happened. He does not have any immediate family all he has got is two nephews and I think one of them will be coming up to help out at the end of the week.
Following the incident, Ian Smith from Essex Fire Service warned people 'not to over load their loft'. He added:'Firefighters formed a chain to remove the boxes from the man as quickly as possible. A paramedic then assessed the gentleman and he was placed in the care of the ambulance service. Incidents like this show that people should not over load their loft.'
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I'm not sure if he's an avid boater but he's sure an avid reader.
Officers believe the ceiling collapsed under the weight of the boxes filled with the same magazine which he had stored in his loft for 10 years. Mr Phillips was discovered by his concerned next door neighbour Tony Piercy, 72, who helps look after him at 11am yesterday morning. Mr Piercy a grandfather-of-five, said: 'He was almost crushed to death.
'He was lucky. If one of the ceiling beams landed on his head he could have died. Secondly if we had not gone round to check up on him he could have been stuck under there for goodness knows how long. I went into his home, just to check on things because his carer had not heard from him. When I got to his room I called out and he just said "I'm stuck".
'So I tried to open the door but it was jammed pretty tight and he just kept shouting "I can't move I can't move". So I went into auto pilot and just bashed his door in. Then to my amazement I discovered the entire ceiling had caved in.
"He was trapped under chunks of plaster and ceiling beams. I pulled some of the rubble off and then called the fire service. He is such a lovely bloke I am so glad nothing more serious happened. He does not have any immediate family all he has got is two nephews and I think one of them will be coming up to help out at the end of the week.
Following the incident, Ian Smith from Essex Fire Service warned people 'not to over load their loft'. He added:'Firefighters formed a chain to remove the boxes from the man as quickly as possible. A paramedic then assessed the gentleman and he was placed in the care of the ambulance service. Incidents like this show that people should not over load their loft.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
I'm not sure if he's an avid boater but he's sure an avid reader.
