This was an absolute nightmare scenario that thankfully had a happy ending:
Emergency crews in northern California rescued a 16-year-old boy who took a tumble down a 50-foot-deep mine shaft while exploring the side of a mountain.
The teenage boy and his friends had poked inside a horizontal mine shaft roughly 180 feet into the side of a mountain last week, officials said. They rappelled approximately 40 to 50 feet down the vertical shaft using household ropes — but the lines weren't nearly sturdy enough for the climb back up.
(Pro-tip, kids: "Household ropes" are pretty much guaranteed to be unable to support your weight.)
That's just what happened here, of course: The rope broke "and the 16-year-old plummeted about 30 feet to the bottom of the mine shaft." He "attempted to free-climb his way back up but kept running out of strength or losing his grip."
This shaft was no joke, folks:
Here's video footage demonstrating just how deep and claustrophobic the whole setup was:
Just a very dangerous situation in there:
Thankfully everyone got out okay:
The rescue team rushed to the teen's rescue, equipped with a lightweight, complex rope system and air monitoring mechanism. They rappelled down to him and used a harness to hoist him back up to safety.
Exploring real mineshafts isn't like a video game, kids!
P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇
