TEEN-AGER RESCUED FROM MUDHOLE

Saturday's rain couldn't keep Johnny Simmons, 15, from trying to catch a few fish on Sunday, but his fishing trip ended in a three-hour ordeal that ended in his rescue from a muddy creek bank.

About 20 firefighters and emergency rescue personnel worked for two hours Sunday evening to dig Simmons from a slick, muddy bank along Juden Creek near Twin Trees Park. The more they dug into the creek bank, the more he sank.

Simmons, who spent about an hour trying to dig himself out, was taken to Southeast Missouri Hospital where he was being observed for injuries and hypothermia Sunday night.

Firefighters faced several problems in trying to rescue Simmons, who was up to his chest nearly 4 1/2 feet deep in mud.

With nearly every attempt to dig Simmons out, "he got deeper," said Mark Hasheider, a battalion fire chief who was in command at the scene. "As we would dig, it would start to ooze back around him."

Simmons had already tried to dig himself out, using logs and tree branches for leverage, but that had only made things worse. He'd been stuck in the mud for almost 90 minutes by the time firefighters arrived at 6:38 p.m. Sunday. He was pulled free at 8:24 p.m.

Because Simmons was already so deep in the mud when firefighters arrived, they worried about hypothermia.

Firefighter Ray Warner gave the boy his coat, and Hasheider lent his quick hood so Simmons could stay warm.

Paramedic and firefighter Vicki Moldenhauer started a warm IV to keep his body temperature up. Paramedics also used warming blankets to wrap around him. Extra IVs and blankets were requested from the hospital.

Firefighters from the Cape Girardeau and East Cape Girardeau County departments worked to remove the boy by wedging plywood underneath him, so they could get leverage to lift him out of the slimy mud. It took several attempts to pull him from the mud, which covered his lower body.

It was Ivan LaGrand's job to make sure Simmons was alert and awake during the rescue attempt. The two carried on a conversation throughout the ordeal while firefighter Charles Brawley led the crew in digging.

The Fruitland teen-ager remained calm the whole time, likely because he'd already panicked in the two hours prior to calling for help, LaGrand said. "He'd already tried to dig himself out and he was cold and shivering."

Simmons had been wearing only a T-shirt, blue jeans and cowboy boots while fishing along the bank. He had been fishing near a bridge up the creek a ways before heading to the spot where he sank.

LaGrand just kept asking questions about how Simmons was feeling and if he was hurt while firefighters tried to dig around him. LaGrand explained what was happening so Simmons understood everything.

"He knew he had to get help to get out," LaGrand said. "He asked if he would have to go to the hospital."

Once he was freed from the oozing, gray mud, Simmons was taken by helicopter to the hospital.

"He's just in there shivering," said Renee Simmons, his stepmother, after visiting with Johnny in a room filled with hot air, warming blankets and heat lamps. "They said he had no injuries."

Firefighters are trained to deal with rescues of all types, and pulling a person from quicksand-like mud is no different, but nothing is like they say in a textbook, LaGrand said.

Many of the firefighters were also covered in the mud, which made working slow and tricky.

"He was up to his waist in mud and everything we touched was covered in mud," LaGrand said.

Crews spent several minutes trying to dig out flashlights and remove boots, blankets and gear after Simmons had been rescued.

Simmons had been fishing during the afternoon with C.J. Kruse, his brother-in-law, and a friend, Josh Holbrooke. After he sank in the mud and realized he couldn't pull himself out, he told the others to call for help.

"He just sat there and said he couldn't get out," said Holbrooke.

The two tried to pull him up and even ripped one of his belt loops in the process, Kruse said. Then they headed toward town and found a house where a police cruiser was parked. They knocked on the door and asked for help.

It didn't seem long before firefighters responded, but it seemed crowded, Kruse said.

Kruse and Holbrooke were stationed near the railroad tracks so that they could direct other emergency personnel to the scene.