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Cell phone aids in rescue of man pinned under car By DAWN SLADE Pinned underneath his car, Tim Johnson was fearing the worst. After calling 911, he called his wife Vickieıs cell phone. Believing he was going to die, he left her a good-bye message. But Johnson survived, thanks to the Foreston Fire Department and Mille Lacs County Undersheriff Alan Marxhausen. Johnson, who works from his home located northwest of Milaca, had been working on the car on and off and was putting his tools away when he decided to take one last quick look at the condition of the motor mounts. He was home alone during the afternoon of Monday, April 21 when the car jack gave out and the vehicle landed on him. At first, he tried yelling, but decided to save his breath since he realized no one was going to hear him from his home in the country. Initially, Johnson wished he would have had his cell phone with him. But then he realized he just might have it on him. Sure enough, his cell phone was clipped to his pants. He struggled to call 911 and realized the key pad was locked. The tight quarters he was in forced him to ³feel² his way around the key pad. He reached 911 dispatch finally, but 911 never got the address from him. Johnson thought help was on its way, so thatıs when he called his wife. Johnson also phoned his neighbor, but got an answering machine there as well. While he was making phone calls, 911 dispatch was trying to locate Johnson, but they were having difficulties because it wasnıt a land line phone. Johnson made a second call to 911 and found out they didnıt have his address. He figures it was about 15 minutes from his first call to when Mille Lacs County Undersheriff Alan Marxhausen arrived on the scene. Johnsonıs jack was under the car and the tight quarters made it difficult to work on getting him out. Members of the Foreston Fire Department arrived shortly after, including Tim Harris, Gene Weikert, Greg Ramson, Lauren Arvidson and Becky Haugen. ³People donıt survive a car on top of them,² Harris thought to himself when he first heard the call. But Harris said, ³There were a lot of people, a lot of hands - it went fast.² Marxhausen said of the volunteer fire fighters, ³They did an excellent job in getting him out.² Johnson was transported to Fairview Northland Hospital in Princeton and quickly air lifted to North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale. Remarkably, Johnson didnıt break any ribs, but he did have bruised lungs. He was released two days later and is now home recuperating. Johnson raises animals (horses, pigs, chickens) and the new arrival of some animals that Monday were taken care of thanks to the help of neighbors. ³The neighbors around here are phenomenal,² Johnson said. He also praised the efforts of all the emergency personnel involved in his rescue. ³He was very lucky,² Marxhausen said. ³Iım positive that saved my life,² Johnson said of his cell phone. ³I thought I was a goner.²
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