A Long Island woman says she was simply walking through her backyard when the ground suddenly gave way beneath her, dropping her about eight feet into a muddy hole as her dog watched from above.
CBS New York reporter Jennifer McLogan spoke with 47-year-old Danielle Tammone after the frightening incident in Bohemia, which happened on September 17 – Tammone’s birthday.
“You just like walking, the ground just went, and I was in a hole,” Tammone told McLogan.
She said the fall happened so quickly that she had little time to understand what was going on. Once she realized how deep she was and that the earth around her was unstable, fear set in almost immediately.
‘This Might Be My Death Date’
Tammone estimated that she was trapped for around 30 minutes.
Her dog Daisy remained nearby while she screamed for help.
“People suffocate and they die, so I thought that at first,” Tammone said.
The timing made the experience feel even more surreal.
“It’s my birthday. This might be my death date,” she recalled thinking.
Tammone said she was gasping, crying and struggling to breathe normally because she was so frightened.
She did not know what kind of hole she had fallen into. She wondered whether it might have been an old well, a cesspool, a sump or something else buried beneath the property.
That uncertainty probably made the situation even worse. Falling into any deep hole is dangerous, but not knowing whether the surrounding ground will keep collapsing adds another level of panic.
Dirt and Stone Kept Crumbling Around Her
Tammone said she tried to use her legs to push herself upward, but the ground would not hold.
“I was trying to put my legs up to try to get out, but the stone was crumbling down,” she said.
McLogan reported that the hole contained mud, water and roots, making it difficult for Tammone to climb out on her own.
She continued yelling.
For several minutes, no one could figure out where the screams were coming from.
Then two neighbors happened to be outside at the right time.
One had walked onto her porch while another was getting into a car in the driveway.
They heard Tammone crying for help and ran toward the sound.
Neighbors Could Hear Her, but Couldn’t Find Her
Christine Chanowsky, one of the neighbors, said they initially assumed Tammone might be trapped inside a shed or another structure.
“At first, we were thinking maybe she was in a shed or something,” Chanowsky told CBS New York. “So we weren’t looking on the ground.”
That is one of the more unusual details in the story.
The idea that someone could simply disappear beneath an ordinary backyard is so unexpected that the neighbors were searching at eye level before realizing they needed to look down.
Tammone said the women kept telling her to continue screaming so they could follow the sound.
“They said, ‘Keep screaming. Don’t stop screaming,’” she recalled.
Eventually, they found the opening.
Video captured one of the women reacting in shock.
“Oh my God, she fell in the ground,” one neighbor can be heard saying.
The women immediately called 911 and tried to reassure Tammone that help was coming.
“You’re going to be fine, Danielle,” one told her. “They’re on their way.”
Emergency Crews Lowered a Ladder Into the Hole
Firefighters, police officers, EMTs and a specialized rescue unit arrived at the property.
McLogan reported that rescuers used a ladder to reach Tammone through the mud, water and roots.
Tammone later praised everyone involved.
“Rescue firemen, cops, a special unit, cops, ambulance, EMTs — they were wonderful,” she said.
Chanowsky said watching Tammone finally emerge from the hole was emotional.
“I was tearing up. I was crying,” she said. “As soon as she got out of the hole, I just gave her the biggest hug.”
That reaction is easy to understand after listening to how the rescue unfolded. For roughly half an hour, the neighbors knew someone was trapped beneath them but had no way to know whether the ground might collapse further before emergency crews arrived.
A Birthday She Will Probably Never Forget
Once Tammone was safely out, the mood changed.
She said the rescuers sang “Happy Birthday” to her.
“And they all sang happy birthday to me,” she told McLogan. “It was great.”
It is a strange ending to what could have been a far more serious story.
Tammone survived with whiplash and pulled muscles and is now working on her own recovery.
As a licensed physical therapist, she is accustomed to helping other people recover from injuries, but this time she is the patient.
Despite the physical pain, she told CBS New York that gratitude is what she feels most strongly.
Questions Remain About What Opened Beneath Her
The report did not identify exactly what caused the ground to collapse or what the hole had once been.
Tammone herself was unsure whether it was connected to an old well, cesspool, sump or another underground structure.
What is clear is that the opening formed with almost no warning.
One moment, she was walking across her backyard.
Seconds later, she was eight feet below ground, unable to climb out and unsure whether anyone could hear her.
That suddenness is what makes the incident especially unsettling. Most people think of their backyard as one of the safest and most familiar places around their home, not somewhere the ground itself might suddenly disappear.
For Tammone, September 17 began as her 47th birthday and nearly became something much darker.
Instead, neighbors heard her screams, emergency crews reached her in time, and the day ended with a rescue, a hug and a birthday song she is unlikely to forget.
Raised in a small Arizona town, Kevin grew up surrounded by rugged desert landscapes and a family of hunters. His background in competitive shooting and firearms training has made him an authority on self-defense and gun safety. A certified firearms instructor, Kevin teaches others how to properly handle and maintain their weapons, whether for hunting, home defense, or survival situations. His writing focuses on responsible gun ownership, marksmanship, and the role of firearms in personal preparedness.
