Malibu Boy Pulled to Safety After Falling Into Hole

An 11-year-old Malibu boy was rescued from a 40-foot-deep shaft at a construction site after he fell into the hole during a dirt bike excursion near his home in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Hunter Roberts was in fair condition after being trapped for about 90 minutes in the 2-foot-wide hole.

A team of rescuers lifted him out by lowering a paramedic into the shaft.

The paramedic attached a harness to the boy; both were then pulled out.

Hunter, who was conscious throughout the ordeal and able to talk with rescuers, was taken by helicopter to UCLA Medical Center complaining of pain in his left shoulder and back, said Los Angeles County Fire Department spokesman Bob Brandelli.

A hospital spokeswoman said that Hunter was in fair condition and that he had been admitted for observation.

As the boy was being moved on a stretcher to the helicopter, his mother, Christa Roberts, said she was “incredibly relieved.”

“We’re very lucky,” she said, holding back tears. “He’s like a cat with nine lives.”

Firefighters were notified at 11:40 a.m. that the boy had slipped down the hole on an empty lot on Sweetwater Mesa Road, less than two miles north of Pacific Coast Highway.

The hole apparently had been bored for geological testing, said Kevin Ryan of the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department’s Malibu Mountain Rescue Unit.

Brandelli said the boy and a 10-year-old friend were riding motorized dirt bikes on the site, an empty lot at the end of a dirt road that apparently is being prepared for home construction.

“It has all the fun little tricks,” Brandelli said of the lot, which has small hills and trenches.

Ryan said Hunter and his friend were removing a piece of plywood with the words “Keep Out” that covered the hole, hoping to use it as a ramp.

But Hunter fell in.

Fire Capt. John Dishaw of Station 88 in Malibu said firefighters were able to talk with the boy when they arrived, then lowered a flashlight.

“It was dark in the hole, so we wanted to give him some light to help comfort him,” Dishaw said.

A county hazardous materials team provided an air hose that was lowered into the hole to provide fresh air.

A hoisting system with pulleys was set up to lower paramedic John Haugh into the hole. Haugh then slipped a harness around the boy.

Haugh said the rescue was made easier because of the boy’s small size and because the boy’s arms were free to don the harness.

“I only had a few inches to work with, but it really helped that he was able to communicate with me,” Haugh said.

“We lucked out,” added Ryan.