Berghorn said she believes her rescuers saved her life.
06.02.2010 | Photo by Michael S. Gordon / The Republican | LUDLOW - The collapsed barn at 1017 Lyon St. that trapped Patricia A. Berghorn on Tuesday.
This is an updated version of a story originally filed at 8:49 a.m.
LUDLOW – Patricia A. Berghorn, trapped by a collapsing barn Tuesday afternoon, said she thought she was going to die.
“It was pretty much a nightmare,” said the 76-year-old Berghorn who was rescued by police officers and firefighters and escaped serious injury. “I figured I guess I am going to die here.”
Berghorn and her husband, Alfred W. Berghorn, were standing outside the rear of the barn, located on their property at 1017 Lyon St., when it suddenly collapsed shortly after 3 p.m.
Berghorn said debris from the partially-collapsed barn brought her down and pinned her to the ground. “I was totally under there,” she said. “My hand and foot were trapped.”
Alfred Berghorn, who dialed 911 to summon help for his wife, was not injured.
Fire Department Capt. Edwin Prokup said police were the first to arrive at the scene and were working to shore up the structure when firefighters arrived.
Firefighters used cribbing to protect Berghorn in case of further collapse and lifted the wreckage that was entrapping her with an air bag.
Berghorn said it was only as firefighters prepared to inflate the airbag that she realized that she was going to survive.
“We only had to lift it an inch to get (her) out,” Prokup said.
“They just did a phenomenal job,” Berghorn said. “They saved my life.”
Berghorn was treated at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield and released.
Berghorn said Wednesday that she suffered from assorted bumps and bruises and is black and blue. “Today you feel it,” she said of her assorted minor injuries. ”But, that feeling means you are alive.”
Berghorn said they have had people come out to the barn with regard to demolishing it but had yet to go ahead and do it.
“The barn had been creaking and popping and sagging over the last few days,” Prokup said, adding he believes the barn was over 100-years-old.
The barn was one-story tall in the front and two-stories in the rear where there was a walk-out area, Prokup said.
Berghorn said the front portion of the barn collapsed about 20 minutes after her extrication.
“My glasses are in there somewhere,” she said.