We all have something that would immediately drive us into panic mode if we lost it. But whether we’re talking about a phone, our keys, or a wedding ring, life has a way of occasionally putting these things at risk no matter how careful we are.
And while it’s certainly nerve-wracking when these things vanish completely, it can almost feel worse when we know exactly where it is but don’t feel confident that we’re ever getting it back.
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It’s true that more of us than we’d like to admit know how it feels to drop a phone into a toilet . But even in the worst case scenario, the gross work of trying to recover it is usually doable for us.
However, one unfortunate woman found a rare nightmare scenario where this wasn’t the case and her day only seemed to get worse from there.
While visiting the Olympic National Forest in Washington state, the woman had to make a stop at a public outhouse.
But according to People , this pit stop turned sour quickly after her phone fell into the outhouse’s vault.
And since non-flush toilets often feature far longer chutes than the toilets we’re used to, she couldn’t just fish it out.
So as Brinnon Fire Department Chief Tim Manly explained, she tried to hook onto it with her dog’s leash before taking both the seat and the toilet’s housing apart.
In Manly’s words, “Eventually, she took the leashes to help support herself, which failed, and she slid into and fell into the vault head first.”
But while this would be a nightmarish scenario for any of us, the woman’s situation did provide her with one stroke of luck. Not only was she able to find her phone, but it still worked and she used it to call 911.
When firefighters responded, they opted to create a platform for the woman by passing down several planks of wood.
As a representative from the fire department wrote on Facebook, rescuers were then able to pull her up once the platform was large enough for her to stand on.
After which, they hosed her down and gave her a protective Tyvek suit like the ones we see here.
In his 40 years on the job, Manly said he’s never had to deal with a situation like this before.
His crew also remained concerned for the woman’s health and safety as she “was strongly encouraged to seek medical attention after being exposed to human waste, but she only wanted to leave.”
After thanking the firefighters and confirming she wasn’t injured, she was able to secure her own transportation back to California.
Manly said that she “was extremely fortunate not to be overcome by toxic gases or sustain injury.”
h/t: People
