Earl A. Rorer, Sr., helped to save Ronald A. Caruso from suffocation, Bridgeville, Pennsylvania, June 27, 1966. Caruso, 28, water treatment operator, entered a well 16 feet deep at a water treatment plant and descended a ladder to a plank supported by angle irons a foot above water six feet deep. He was overcome by carbon monoxide entering the well from an air compressor. A man looked into the manhole, and saw that Caruso seemed to have been overcome, and then descended the ladder to the plank. Someone telephoned for aid and followed the man onto the plank. They attempted to lift Caruso but were unable to do so because his leg was caught. They called to Earl A. Rorer, Sr., 55, millwright, saying that Caruso had been overcome and that they needed help to get him out. Rorer descended to the plank. The first man grasped one of the angle irons, lowered himself into the water to his chest, and freed Caruso’s leg. Rorer, along with the second man, drew Caruso onto the plank. The first man then said that he was too weak to climb out of the water. Rorer and the second man obtained holds on the first and with much exertion lifted him onto the plank. By then that man had lost consciousness, and Rorer and the second man were feeling the effects of the carbon monoxide. The plant safety director arrived and ordered both out of the well. Each barely was able to climb the ladder and had to be assisted through the manhole. Workmen with rescue equipment removed Caruso and the first man from the well. Caruso was revived and recovered fully, but the second man succumbed the following day.
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