A 23-year-old man had to be rescued Monday after getting stuck on a 200-foot tall water tower and feeling sick and dropping in and out of consciousness.
Joshua Vinson, an electrical mechanic for WSSC, was working on the tower at Andrews Air Force Base when the incident unfolded.
Work was going along normally for Vinson for about an hour and a half. He climbed to the very top of the water tower and changed a beacon. But the weather, which had dropped about 5 degrees rather quickly, started to take a toll on him.
"For the most part, I felt good that morning. I was bundled up nice and warm, thought I had enough clothing on for the elements, but guess I didn't I started feeling really bad, started feeling loss of blood to my fingers. [I] believe I had frostbite to my left hand, and I felt a little bit nauseous," said Vison.
Other workers called 911. Firefighters from the Base and Prince George's County, including a high angle rescue team responded to the call.
Vinson said he lost consciousness five times during his ordeal.
"I was so much in and out of consciousness, I had no idea of what was going on. I thought I had fallen off the tower, said Vinson.
Paramedics began treating him for hypothermia and low blood sugar.
Then they had to figure out how to get him down from the tower.
"They said, 'We're going to put you in the safety basket, and we're going to get you rigged up nice and tight.' I remember they said, 'We're going to wrap you up like a mummy and we're going get you in this basket and we're going to lower you down,'" said Vinson.
Staff Sgt. Jonta Paten provided comfort to the man along the way down to the ground.
Vinson said, "He was good. He comforted me all the way down, making jokes. We kind of laughed about some things. Yeah, you almost down man. I can see the ground. We're like 50 feet away. Yeah, he was pretty good. The whole team actually was pretty good. I thank those guys a lot."
Vinson says he's eager to get back to work.
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