Family of man who was buried alive breaks silence
<p>The family of Josh Taylor, 25, who was buried alive at a beach on Bribie Island on Saturday, have broken their silence as the young man continues to fight for his life. </p>
<p>It took 15 people to pull Josh out of the sand pit, after he accidentally fell in head first and knocked over some sand, causing him to briefly be buried alive. </p>
<p>A witness who helped rescue Josh said that the group told him they had dug the sand pit to cook a pig, similar to the traditional Maori cooking style of hangi. </p>
<p>“He stood up off the chair, the sand had given away a little bit underneath him,” the witness said. </p>
<p>“He stumbled back. He’d put his arms out to obviously break the fall. He’s continued going down and knocked sand as he’s put his arms out," he added. </p>
<p>When the witness was called over to help, he “realised someone was head first in a hole and I was just digging, digging, digging." </p>
<p>“All of his family were screaming at us, telling us to help, telling us to get rope so we could pull him out. It was pretty gruesome,” Nathan said.</p>
<p>“There were like 15 men on the rope pulling and he did not budge.”</p>
<p>“When I first went up to the hole, I couldn’t even see his foot. That’s how deep it was.”</p>
<p>When they managed to pull him out, Josh had sustained further injuries from the force of the pull, and he was without a pulse for 45 minutes after the horrific incident.</p>
<p>His friends and family took turns giving him CPR until he was flown to Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, where he currently remains in a critical but stable condition. </p>
<p>On Wednesday Josh's uncle, Barry Taylor, spoke to 7NEWS about his nephew who was “fighting hard” to stay alive.</p>
<p>“He’s still critical, he’s in ICU, and we’re awaiting the results of more tests,” he said. </p>
<p>“He’s fighting hard mate, he’s really fighting hard, his heart’s still beating.</p>
<p>“We’re devastated — it’s really been hard for us to comprehend what’s happened to Josh.”</p>
<p>Barry described his nephew as a “vibrant” and “energetic” person who “loves the outdoors, fishing and camping”.</p>
<p>“We’re still able to see him now and we’re very grateful for their help,” he added.</p>
<p>A family-friend has started a GoFundMe to help relieve Josh's family of some of the costs of his medical care, with almost $58,000 raised of its $70,000 goal. </p>
<p><em>Images: Nine News/ Yahoo News</em></p>
