DES MOINES, Iowa --
A Des Moines woman looked out her window to see her husband's feet sticking out of a hole in their yard on Christmas Eve day.
"I looked out the window and saw his feet, he kept kicking, so I ran to help but couldn't pull him out, and I called 911, Toni Shoff said. Shoff said she was "scared to death."
Shoff's husband, Robert, was trying to fix a problem with their underground septic system in the back yard when he got stuck.
"It plugged up apparently and he was trying to unplug it and I don't know if he did or not," Shoff said.
Somehow Robert Shoff got stuck, head first, in the hole he dug. He was upside down for an hour. And it took a few curious Delaware Township Firefighters to get him out.
"His head was in there, he must have been leaning over and fell in," said Matt McBride of the Delaware Fire Department.
Rescue workers said they had never seen anything like it.
"It's a little different that what we're used to, yes, it's unusual. It's my first time, a little strange, yes," firefighter Eric Erickson said.
After some work, firefighters were able to pull Shoff out of the hole. They said he was covered head to toe in sewage.
"Not where you want to be on Christmas Eve," said Weiland.
Toni Shoff said this will he most unusual Christmas ever.
Rescue workers said Shoff was walking and talking after his ordeal. He was taken to the hospital and doctors said he was OK, before being sent home.
Copyright 2007 by KCCI.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
