It was like something straight out of a movie. Three people trapped hundreds of feet below the surface in an elevator in New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
Imagine being trapped with nothing but stone and dirt around you for 3 hours, with no food, one bottle of water and more than 700 feet below the surface, waiting, hoping and praying someone comes to rescue you.
"There’s a huge jolt in the elevator and we realize this is not normal," said Kiersten Gawronski of Ypsilanti, after being trapped in the elevator for more than three hours with her son and aunt.
"We look out the windows of the elevator doors and it’s solid rock in both sides," said Gawronski.
It was supposed to be a normal trip into the majestic caves when their elevator suddenly stopped.
"I called the number that was there and said, 'I think we’re stuck' and they said, 'yes as a matter of fact you are,'" said Gawronski.
The seconds turned to minutes, then hours before help arrived.
"It dawned on us about and hour into it that this wasn't going to be easily resolved," said Gawronski.
The park ranger gave them two options to be rescued. Kiersten said it was obvious which option they would choose.
"Scenario one: They bring down the second elevator car, put in alignment with our car, open up the hatch above us, there was one panel that could be opened. They would bring in a fireman, they would put us in harnesses and then one at a time, climb up a ladder and be transferred from the broken car to the working elevator," said Gawronski.
The second option, a little more daring.
"He said well, option two is the fire department recently purchased 900 feet of repelling rope, and option two is to strap you into the harness and resell you up the 700 and some feet of the elevator shaft. And I said well, I hope option one works."
Option one worked. It’s a rescue for the books, and a vacation Gawronski will never forget.
"I said I’d kiss the ground, but I just came from underground, so I wasn't really interested in that."
Kiersten says the fire department never trained for a situation like this until a month ago.
She and her son wanted to go back to the caves the next day, but the elevator was still out of service.
