March 1914 (Part two)- 308 feet below - For two and a half hours the rescue crew worked on cutting the chain that held the machine. All the time Charles was awake. The Sullivan machine had not only skipped sideways it had also tilted off the chain making it impossible just to roll back. The rescue captain sent one of the men to the surface with a morphine tally, this was taken to the main office and it was used as a swap for a vial of the painkiller, held under lock and key by Thelma. The vial was bought to Charles and the small needled pressed into his arm. This gave him some relief. The chain of hardened steel was blunting hacksaw blades and the rescue team were taking turns along with the electrician, with each stroke minute particles of metal were being removed. Harry was keeping Charles talking, boring him with how Doris the pigeon could track her way back, asking stupid questions about football and the rules, all the time holding onto his hand - no not holding, he gripped it tightly. The captain wrote this message and had the onsetter send it to the top. “Man trapped by cutting machine, alive and OK, extricating now”. The men on the surface got the message and were relieved. By now Mary had arrived and she had found Percy, holding on to him, digging her nails into his arm - he did not feel a thing. They knew it was Charles that had been trapped and as the manager walked towards them he saw she was praying. “Its OK, he is alive, we will have him up soon, then its a quick trip to the hospital, he will be OK”.... He meant those words, he had no way of knowing that underground it was only the weight of the machine keeping Charles alive. The chain parted with a pry of the crow bar, the last piece broken using brute strength and worked metal fatigue. The men pulled on the chain “1,2,3.... heave”, the machine moved a little, “again, 1,2,3..... heave”, the great machine finally released, it rolled back easily. As it did the blood rushed into Charles legs and pelvis. Carefully they lifted him onto a roll stretcher, and tightened the belts. Three of them along with the electrician carried him the small distance to the cage. Harry maintained his tight grasp of Charles hand, still talking “not long now mate, pub will be open soon”. Three rings, then four, Tom, still on duty in the winding room received the message and so did the men nearby, “he is on his way up”. A hush fell on the waiting men as the big wheel turned, oh so slowly. Barely a breath of warm wind came from the shaft as it neared the surface and the wires sang a low pitched sigh. The cage gate clattered as the banksman released the men and they emerged into the daylight. The mine manager immediately saw that the stretcher was covered in blood, it was dripping from underneath, he grabbed a grey blanket and threw it over letting it drape on the floor. “His wife is there”, he said pointing in the direction of Mary, he knew it was bad. The waiting men parted to let Mary and Percy through, she stood by the side of her husband. He looked up at her and smiled, Harry released his grip on his friend and passed the hand he had held for the last three hours to Mary, she took it carefully. “Im sorry Love, I made a mistake”, he was squeezing with all his might as if trying to hold on to life. She bent over and gave him a kiss on the lips, and felt his hand release, her husband of twenty years had slipped away. To be continued shortly.....
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 14:20:00 +0000
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