Danielle Tammone was in the yard of her home in Bohemia, Long Island, New York, when the ground suddenly gave way and she fell about 2,4 meters into a hole. It was September 17, 2026, the day she turned 47. “It’s my birthday. This could be the day I die”, she recalled thinking, according to what she told CBS New York.
The fall happened in a matter of seconds. Tammone ended up at the bottom of a structure that, according to initial reports, was an old overflow cesspool. Surrounded by water, mud, and roots, she tried to climb up the walls, but the stones were beginning to crumble. “I could die today. This could end very badly. I could be buried alive”, she said she thought during those moments of panic.
Her golden retriever, Daisy, was nearby when she began screaming for help. Two neighbors who had never met Danielle personally heard her cries and came over to find where they were coming from. When they discovered her underground, they called 911 and stayed with her while emergency crews arrived. The woman estimated that she was trapped for between 25 and 30 minutes.
Rescuers used a ladder to pull her out of the hole, through the mud, water, and roots. Tammone suffered muscle injuries and whiplash, but survived. The exact cause of the collapse was unclear in the initial reports, and it had also not been confirmed whether there was sewage in the pit.
Despite the fear and injuries, the story ended with an unexpected moment: after rescuing her, the emergency crews sang “Happy Birthday” to her. For Danielle, a day that was supposed to be a celebration was marked by a fall that could have had much more serious consequences.