Thanks Hugh for another link with video interview!
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http://www.theweathernetwork.com/ne...h_it_13_03_2013?ref=ccbox_homepage_topstories
U.S. sinkhole opens up and takes golfer with it
March 13, 2013 — A sinkhole opened up in the middle of an Illinois golf course Friday, taking a golfer with it. Despite falling five metres, landing in the mud and dislocating his shoulder, the 43-year-old man is so thankful to be alive.
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Golfer falls into a five metre deep sinkhole in Illinois last Friday
It definitely wasn't the hole-in-one 43-year-old Mark Mihal of Creve Coeur was expecting.
"I was just in shock," recalls Mihal who was swallowed by a five metre deep sinkhole at the Annbriar Golf Club near Waterloo, Illinois Friday.
The husband and father of two was playing golf with a group of friends at the time. They were on the 14th hole in the middle of the fairway when Mihal noticed something unusual.
"The fairway had a lot of mounds in it and I saw this depression and I was like that's interesting you know. So I went there to check it out."
The next thing he knew, Mihal fell straight down into a sinkhole, landing on a big pile of mud.
"It was just darkness down there so I was like someone get me out of here now."
Mihal's friends reacted quickly and helped to pull him from the hole
He says despite being scared, his body went into complete survival mode.
"And thank God I was playing with a foursome and I was probably 15 feet away from my buddy Mike. We were talking about it and then all of a sudden I was gone. He heard moaning he said and he looked back and I just disappeared."
His friends called the club house asking for a ladder and rope and they all knew that time was of the essence.
One of his friends, Ed Magaletta, actually jumped in the hole with him.
"I knew he couldn't get up the ladder by himself and the longer he stayed down there, the worse it was, so I felt someone had to do it," says Magaletta.
Magaletta put a splint around his arm and tried to do whatever he could to help his friend.
"They put a rope around me, pulled me out from the top and he pushed me from the bottom," says Mihal.
Twenty minutes later, he was back on solid ground.
"My arm was killing me, but I was happy to be on the ground and see the sunlight and thankful it wasn't worse."
"We are sorry this happened here. It is an extremely unfortunate event, an event we feel is an act of nature. We don't feel there's anyway we could've forseen this happening," says Annbriar General Manager, Russ Nobbe.
Will Mihal ever golf again?
"I hope so, I love it. I probably will... I don't know if I can play that course or that hole again. It's just so freaky, but we're still amazed. We can't believe that just happened."
Officials say the hole is now close to nine metres wide.
