Massachusetts woman shares how she survived being buried alive after horror entombment
A Massachusetts woman survived after being buried alive and given less than a two percent chance of survival.
Ashley Piccirilli, 35, nearly died in May 2021 after being buried alive at a construction site in Northampton, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Springfield.
‘If I knew I could have died in that hole, would I have panicked? Maybe. I literally didn’t think I could die,” Piccirilli said WesternMassNews.
The Air Force veteran was just a week into her new construction job when a wall of earth collapsed.
One of the side walls of the trench crumbled, trapping her beneath thousands of pounds of earth, about six feet.
Ashley Piccirilli, 35, nearly died in May 2021 after being buried alive at a construction site in Northampton, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Springfield
“At first it just felt like a friend comes to meet you and gives you that bear hug, and it’s a little awkward and you don’t really like it and that’s really all it felt like,” Piccirilli told the local news station. .
She added: “They know where I am. They’re coming for me, so I stayed calm the whole time. Took very, very small breaths.
“I couldn’t take a deep breath because there was no room for my lungs to expand because that dirt was in them.”
It took about 30 minutes to free Piccirilli using an excavator and hands.
She had broken ribs, a collapsed lung and internal bleeding.
It took about 30 minutes to free Piccirilli using an excavator and hands. She had broken ribs, a collapsed lung and internal bleeding
The Air Force veteran was only a week into her new construction job when a wall collapsed
Baystate Medical Center trauma surgeon Dr. Kristina Kramer told WesternMassNews that Piccirilli bled to death when she arrived at the hospital and her chances of survival were slim to none.
Piccirilli was bleeding so much that doctors could hear it, something doctors call “audible hearing,” Kramer explained.
During her first surgery, her heart stopped, but doctors were able to restart it.
Piccitilli spent the next 30 days in the hospital but is now back home and thriving.
She returned to flight school and is now a pilot at Barnes Air National Guard Base.
Piccitilli spent the next 30 days in the hospital but is now back home and thriving
She returned to flight school and is now a pilot at Barnes Air National Guard Base
“The reason she survived is because of her physical and mental strength and the teamwork of all the different people involved in her care – it’s never just one person,” Dr. Kramer said.
‘Especially in trauma, there are so many different components that have to work together seamlessly, from pre-hospital providers, to the emergency department and operating room teams, to the care team on the post-operative units, to rehabilitation and home care.
“Everyone came together.”