06-15-2006, 12:35 PM
Man survives elevator ordeal with cookies Wed Jun 14, 6:49 AM ET
A German retiree and former elevator repair man had to survive on just a packet of biscuits while he was stuck in a broken hospital elevator for three days.
Karlheinz Schmidt, 68, who had turned up for a routine appointment at a Berlin hospital, slipped out of his wheelchair during the 80-hour ordeal in which he repeatedly pushed the elevator's alarm button without anyone hearing his call for help.
"I was lying on the floor and the elevator went up and down for a bit. I pushed the alarm button several times, but nothing happened," the daily Bild quoted Schmidt as saying. "I thought to myself ... 'Karlheinz, that's it. You're on your own now'."
Schmidt, who appeared on German television looking pale and weak, was finally discovered Monday after a nurse reported the broken lift. Schmidt's son had launched a hunt for his father but rescue workers after scouring the hospital grounds had concentrated efforts on dredging a nearby canal.
A German retiree and former elevator repair man had to survive on just a packet of biscuits while he was stuck in a broken hospital elevator for three days.
Karlheinz Schmidt, 68, who had turned up for a routine appointment at a Berlin hospital, slipped out of his wheelchair during the 80-hour ordeal in which he repeatedly pushed the elevator's alarm button without anyone hearing his call for help.
"I was lying on the floor and the elevator went up and down for a bit. I pushed the alarm button several times, but nothing happened," the daily Bild quoted Schmidt as saying. "I thought to myself ... 'Karlheinz, that's it. You're on your own now'."
Schmidt, who appeared on German television looking pale and weak, was finally discovered Monday after a nurse reported the broken lift. Schmidt's son had launched a hunt for his father but rescue workers after scouring the hospital grounds had concentrated efforts on dredging a nearby canal.
I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it.
