Apr 16
The did this time lapse thing of all 40 hours. What a horrible thing to go through. See the video here.
SCOTT ON TWITTER- @jeffcannata Me too dude. Stoked though. Also...sigh.
- @acedtect No, but they are burned in our memories forever.
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I want to know why it took 40 hours to get him out. I would have been raging mad!
That’s crazy! If I were stuck in an elevator & somebody decided to publish the security camera, I’d be at the front of the line demanding my internet royalties
The sadder thing is, if you skim through the long-winded New Yorker article, is he can’t get a job, is unemployed, and has spent the money he got out of the lawsuit he filed.
They summed up by saying he walked into the lift with his life reasonably sorted, and walked out to find a new life in tatters. Just goes to show how the smallest things can make the biggest changes.
To think he was all ready working late that night, I wonder if he got paid for the time he was stuck.
Wow…I am taking the stairs at work today…
Wow, that’s sad. Who would think one smoke break could forever change your life?
Watching the video, I did not understand why the maintenance people never checked on his car when it was not available for them to service, unfortunately no answer was in that long, but somewhat interesting, article.
It could have been worse for him though, the video shows the lights in the other lifts going out, at least he wasn’t trapped in there in the dark. That would have been too coffin-like I think, but then I’m no fan of lifts.
What about the emergency phone that’s built into every elevator? What about the alarm button?
@Bearbutt- What about reading the linked article?
hehehe…sucks fer him.
Looks like the sims.
I’d have start breaking things.
Is there an article related to what exactly happened? Like what the problem was?
Looks like there was no door, like it was a cement wall on the other side. *Shrug*
@fesworks
Yes, there is a link to the article on the same page as the actual video. It’s a bit long, and not entirely about Mr. White (the man in the video) though, it’s about elevators in general.
Basically it’s like this:
White goes for a smoke break, on his return the elevator gets stuck. The buttons do nothing, the intercom does nothing, the alarm draws no attention, his co-worker fails to notice he never returns from his break.
He pries open the doors, but as it is an express elevator there are no doors where he got stuck, only wall. He tries the roof panel like in the movies, but unlike in the movies it is bolted shut from the outside to prevent people from doing what he is trying to do.
After a couple of days someone finally noticed that there is someone in the stuck elevator, and he is rescued.
On a totally unrelated to Mr. White tangent; the bit about packing a lift with christmas trees, setting them on fire, and sending it to the top floor created a humourous image in my head.
Yorrike, I see no mention of his life being ruined in the article “Up and Then Down”, which is the only article linked to the video.
Nintendo DS: Don’t leave home without it.
I would have pooped in the corner I think.
I would be so hungry.
And at the end of the video… the building’s solution to persuading people from getting in the elevator? A little sign sitting in front of the doors.
That makes up for the 40 hours that he was caught ON VIDEO.. very likely by security. Didn’t his coworker or a security guard bother with the camera? Or is it just sitting there recording video just for recording? No one there monitoring the video just seems to defeat the purpose.
I too was surprised he never went to the bathroom, for 40 hours I would of had to go in the corner. I too am outraged no one was able to find him for over 40 hours. I mean common, the system they have in place clearly failed them, I’m amazed he wasn’t in there longer.
@david H
The second to last paragraph of the article states : “They settled for an amount that White is not allowed to disclose, but he will not contest that it was a low number, hardly six figures. He never learned why the elevator stopped; there was talk of a power dip, but nothing definite. Meanwhile, White no longer had his job, which he’d held for fifteen years, and lost all contact with his former colleagues. He lost his apartment, spent all his money, and searched, mostly in vain, for paying work. He is currently unemployed.”
apparently he did go to the bathroom, against the wall outside the doors.
but yeah, terrible situation for him to end up in, and the trauma of the event caused a lot more problems for him. Its the little conveniences of the modern age that make all the difference, but we only really realise this when they fail us.
@ David H
At the end of the article it discusses how some bad decisions made by him in the wake of the incident basically screwed up his entire life.
@ Scott
I wondered about the whole poop thing (since the article explained how he peed). I know I could not hold it for nearly two days, but can you imagine being trapped in that small box with poo and no way of wiping? *shudder*. I guess it’s a good thing he did not have Mexican for dinner.
Wow
Sorry, I didn’t notice there was seven other pages to the article. I was wondering why the “long-winded” comment was made about a one-page article. My mistake.
Wow that sucks!! I’ve been stuck in an elevator once. I pressed the alarm button and got the attention of some people on another floor, but they did nothing. I pressed the intercom button and the person on the other side told be some one would get me out in an hour and told me not to attempt to open the elevator doors. 2 hours passed. I was pissed so I opened the doors anyway and luckly, I was halfway between floors, so i just jumped down 4 feet. But yeah, that can’t compare to 41 freakin hours!
Props to the guy for doing as well as he did I guess.
On the poop question, he did urinate in the elevator (Against the concrete behind the doors).
But pooping can be withheld for at least 3 days (I’ve done that, seriously, on occasions where I had to go to a “Former” Soviet Country when I was a kid. Toilets were not very clean, and I was a bit squeemish as a kid)
Scott Says:
April 16th, 2008 at 10:19 am
I would have pooped in the corner I think.
Humble Hobo Says:
April 16th, 2008 at 10:49 am
I would be so hungry.
The timing here is impeccable.
What a terrible ordeal though, I would have freaked bad.
Having worked in Manhattan I can say that it’s always been a concern of mine. I often wonder what would be worse being trapped alone, trapped with some freak, or trapped in a jam packed elevator.
I’m thinking the jam packed one, the only good thing about it would be that with so many people someone would be bound to be missed.
“OH! The CORNER! [facepalm] Why didn’t I think of that?”
@ Mattzilla
Wait… you live in New York? And, “the only good thing about it would be that with so many people someone would be bound to be missed.” It’s New York! I bet you that the elevator could be jammed packed and 24 hours would go by with no help coming. Being alone in there would be the best option. That way I know that I can only rely on myself, and not have to worry about some crazy people freaking out.
The security staff should have been fired wholesale. I would have written help on the wall or something, just in case. Pen, blood, whatever. After the first DAY, I would have been tearing the inside of that place up.
I wonder if he peed during that stretch when he had the door open to the cement wall?
I would have peed on the cement wall, and that way it isn’t in my confined space, and less embarrassing if the doors open for rescue.
I can’t imagine what being trapped like that would do to your psyche. You must be nervous about confined spaces, let alone elevators.
I would have tried to dismount the camera and aim it at the lights so that someone would see an all-white screen and go “wtf?!”
I’m scared to watch that again.
Just noticed… that happened almost 10 years ago.
Damn, I cant imagine a hell like that, it is like being stuck in a jail cell but smaller, no windows, no toilet, no communication to the outside world, no hope of surviving. But the very humorous thing I did find is how the guy behind the repair man was nothing but ready to put a fancy “OUT OF ORDER” sign in where this guy was.
Scott – You would have pooped in the corner whether the elevator was stuck or not.
@ Void – No toilet paer? You’ve got two sleeves, and after that, two socks. Tip: Rip the sleeves off your shirt before using.
That music was cool, anyone know what it was?
Good thing it wasn’t the hole Video 0_o
@Gawl – that’s right, which is why in the end I said the worst one would be the jam packed one…same as you.
When I was 8, our elevator’s inside door was broken, so you’d have a nice view of the wall when going up or down. One day I got home and peed on the wall, then took the elevator down just to look at the mess. God, I miss those days!
I would die.
i’m claustrophobic and I’ve had an incident where I was trapped in a elevator literally for about five seconds and came really close to a panic attack.
The poor guy….