Vietnam Veteran Found Trapped Under Tree

From: WUSA9

SPRINGDALE, Md. (WUSA9) -- A man reported missing a week ago has been found alive after being trapped under a tree less than a block away from his home.

Larry Shadday, 66, was reported missing on July 20 from a veteran's home along Ardwick-Ardmore Road in Springdale, Maryland.

At around 1 a.m. on July 20, Shadday, who lives in a house with five other Vietnam War veterans, told his roommate he had trouble sleeping and went out for a walk.

The next morning when Shadday didn't return, his roommate called the owner of the house they lived in, worried for Shaddy's safety.

"The first thing we said to him is you should have called us at one o'clock in the morning because that was very unusual for Larry to go for a walk at one o'clock," Imelda Clarke of Imelda's Elderly Care said.

Clarke called police, and for a week they searched high and low for the 66-year old with chronic health problems.

"As the days went by we became less and less hopeful," Clarke said.

And then Monday afternoon, a pedestrian noticed a man trapped beneath a tree in the 9000 block of Ardwick-Ardmore Road and called for help.

"We arrived on location and found the man, late 60's, who apparently had fallen or slid down this embankment and underneath a tree that had already fallen," Mark Brady, Prince George's County Fire and Rescue spokesman said.

But Shadday was wedged too tightly to free himself. It took firefighters and the jaws of life to pull him out.

"So I'm glad we found him today. I don't know how much longer he would have lasted out here in the elements," Brady said.

Impossibly bad luck; but when the improbable happy ending came; the good news didn't have to travel far.

"The first two words that came out of my mouth were 'thank God.' And – is he alive? Yes. We were very happy. And also stunned," Clarke said.

Clarke credited Shadday's survival to his military training. He emerged from the woods Monday with only minor injuries and severe dehydration from seven days trapped in the woods.

Investigators hope to learn more about how Shadday survived for so long without food or water, but so far he's still been too disoriented to tell them much.

http://www.wusa9.com/story/news/2015/07/27/officials-rescue-man-trapped-under-tree-limb-in-prince-georges-co/30744627/