Austin Man Paints Himself Into Corner, Trapped for 24 Hours
By Editor | November 11, 2007
Austin, TX - 11/11/07 — An elderly man painted himself into a corner of his North Austin home and was trapped there for more than 24 hours as the paint dried.
The story unfolded in the Wells Branch area of North Austin on Saturday. The man, who lives alone, was renovating his one-story home and had been painting several rooms of the house. His near-fatal mistake took place in a spare bedroom of the old house, where he mistakenly began painting the wood floors from the doorway inward — as opposed to working toward the door.
By the time he realized the error, he had painted himself into the rear corner of the bedroom.
“I was horrified when I turned around,” said 80-year-old Bart Billings. “I got caught up in my work and didn’t even think about where I was painting. I turned around and saw that I was trapped, and my heart just sank.”
To make matters worse, Billings had applied two coats of paint and a coat of over-sealer to the wood floors, which made the drying process take longer than usual.
“I thought I was done for,” said Billings. “My heart medication was in the other room, not even fifteen feet away, but I couldn’t get to it because of the paint.”
After being trapped in the room for nearly 24 hours, Billings caught a lucky break. His next-door neighbor went to a garden shed in his backyard that was near the window of the room where Billings was trapped. By shouting and knocking on the window, Billings was able to get the attention of his neighbor, who called the police.
Twenty minutes later, the fire department was able to extricate Billings from the painted room by using a hoist and harness system to lift him over the still-drying paint.
Image: Paramedics take precautions removing Billings from the home
Billings was taken to Seton Hospital in North Austin where he was found to be dehydrated but otherwise in good health. He was released within an hour.
Billings says he will continue refurbishing the floors in his home, but he will be more careful to start in the back and work toward the door.
Topics: Austin News |
November 11th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
Am I the only person that realizes that you actually CAN walk on wet paint? I know it would ruin all that work, but that’s better than dying. This story has to be a joke.
November 11th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
This is my first time to this site also, but judging from the zombies and chupacabras in the headlines on the side, I would imagine that this story is also the real deal.
November 11th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
I completely agree, as I was reading this, I was thinking: “why would someone isk dying for some dumb paint?” Completely silly and risky. Paint is not lava or purple bubbly water. (NSM Bros.)
November 11th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
Haha… seriously… I can believe the ridiculousness of the older man not wanting to walk across and in doing so causing his own anguish and ill-health. But then… “fire department was able to extricate Billings from the painted room by using a hoist and harness system to lift him over the still-drying paint” that thoroughly surprised me…. I guess at least they were nice enough to help him out in such a manner =)
December 11th, 2007 at 11:16 am
Geez people! The whole website is a joke……