8 hours ago
4
Harry Parkhill
BBC News
Reporting fromLincoln
BBC
Rescuers had to dig with their bare hands to free Gill Pyrah from a quagmire
A woman who became stuck in mud for nearly two hours has praised her rescuers.
Gill Pyrah, 70, said she was unable to move after "sinking" in a quagmire while walking her dog, Luna, on Lincoln's South Common.
She screamed for help as she felt herself "going further and further in" during the incident on 12 March.
A crew from Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue dug her out with their bare hands after spades proved ineffective.
Mrs Pyrah had been trying to avoid a puddle near a pond by walking through an area that she thought had a "dry crusted top".
"But four steps in I realised I'd gone wrong, I was sinking," she said. "I shouted and screamed, 'I'm stuck, I'm stuck'."
Gill has been walking on the South Common for 45 years
Debbie Burman, another walker, heard Mrs Pyrah shouting for help. "I tried to get in there, but as I tried I was sinking," she said.
"It was going very cold and she'd been stuck in there 30 minutes already."
After another 15 minutes, Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue arrived and began digging.
Mrs Pyrah said: "As time went on and I got colder and I kept sinking. I was worried. I was very very cold – it was just 3C when I left home."
After nearly two hours, she was freed from the mud and pulled to safety.
Gill hopes others will avoid the area where she was sucked into mud
A check by a paramedic confirmed she was cold and had a high heart rate, but was otherwise unharmed.
Mrs Pyrah thanked the rescue teams and said she wanted to talk about her experience as a warning to others.
She said if someone became stuck in the evening, "they'd be there overnight and might not make it".
"I just wanted people to know not to go onto that bit," she said.
City of Lincoln Council, which owns the land, said it was sorry to hear that Mrs Pyrah became stuck in the mud.
It said dredging work had recently taken place to protect the biodiversity of the area, adding there were only certain times of the year when this could take place.
"We will look to see if there is anything we can do to highlight the area further, being mindful that this is a very large natural open space that has many visitors daily," they added.
