Student falls in elevator shaft

Published 10/22/98

A Point Park College student was rescued from harm after another student pulled him out of an elevator shaft that he had fallen into.

On Saturday, Oct. 10, freshman acting major Tom Troup II was standing on the second floor of Lawrence hall waiting for an elevator. Troup said that while he was waiting, two girls who he hadn't seen before began asking him about the city.

While talking to them, Troup leaned back against elevator four, the express elevator that only stops on certain floors, when suddenly it swung open like a pet door. While he tried to regain his balance, Troup said he fell through an approximate 10-inch gap that was caused by the door swinging back.

After leaning back, Troup said his right foot went through the hole and his left foot hooked around the left side of the elevator entrance way. He extended his left arm and grabbed the wall located between the two elevators, hoping to gain enough leverage to pull himself out. However, the elevator door was against his back, pinning him to the front of the shaft.

The girls Troup was originally talking to, he said, stood motionless in shock. Then Tim Young, a 19-year-old freshman civil engineering major, reached over, grabbed Troup's left arm with both hands and began to pull him out of the shaft. While getting out, Young and Troup heard the elevator descending from above.

Keeping a cool head, Young said he and one of the girls pulled Troup out to safety. A few seconds later, the elevator landed where Troup had been stuck.

After gathering his thoughts, Troup went to the security desk, located on the first floor of Academic hall, and reported the incident to security guard John Schultz. Schultz said he called the maintenance worker on duty, Dennis O'Donnell, to inspect the elevator.

Schultz said after O'Donnell looked over the elevator, he called the General Elevator Company, which arrived and repaired the elevator in approximately an hour.

According to a repair form from the General Elevator maintenance worker, the gibs on the elevator were broken. Gibs are rollers that elevator doors use to stay on track. In addition, Physical Plant Supervisor Bill Cameron said foot marks were found on the bottom of the door, suggesting that someone may have vandalized the door before Troup leaned on it.

"What we did find out is that the elevator door had been kicked in," Cameron said, adding that vandalism similar to this has occurred before. Cameron noted this instance was the most serious. "It's scary that someone would do something like this," he said.

Recalling the incident, Young said the few seconds it took to pull Troup out seemed like an eternity. Although he had a couple of scratches on his leg, Troup said he came out unscathed.

"He's a hero to me in every sense of the word," Troup said about Young.

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