WRIC Richmond News and Weather - Man Rescued From Broad Street Flagpole
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A man was rescued from a flagpole in Henrico County Monday, after becoming stuck 75 feet above the ground.
Henrico fire and police crews rescued 73-year-old Paul Reed from the large flagpole at the Pearson Mercury dealership, located in the 8500 block of West Broad Street.
The contractor was nearly at the top of the flagpole and trying to remove a cable, when he lost his footing and slid 20 feet down the pole.
Witnesses say he was dangling, entangled in ropes, when he managed to grab onto the pole. "He was just yelling for his son to get help and for the fire engines to hurry up and get here," says witness Mike Smith.
To make matters worse, one of the witnesses was Reed's son who was working with him. He said for nearly 12 minutes, he watched helplessly as his father clung to the flagpole, with just the ropes hooked under his arms -- and nothing to prevent him from falling but his own strength.
When Henrico firefighters arrived, they used an engine ladder and bucket to rescue Reed.
The 73-year-old tells us he's been doing this work since he was 17, and that nothing like this has ever happened before. "The only thing I was thinking was how to keep hanging in there until they got here, my arms were slipping out," says Reed.
Other than sore arms, Reed says he's okay, and that despite this scare, he'll be back to climbing soon, "I've been doing this along time, I'm not afraid of it now."
Copyright 2009 by Young Broadcasting, Inc.
