ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - A woman in a motorized wheelchair slammed into a hotel elevator, forcing the doors to open, and then fell about 30 feet down the shaft early Saturday, a city fire official said.

It took firefighters about 45 minutes to rescue the woman at the Claridge Tower at Bally's Atlantic City. The woman who was not identified was "extremely fortunate" to be alive, Battalion Chief Michael Mooney said.

Mooney didn't immediately know the woman's condition, but he said she as conscious when she was transported to the hospital for treatment.

The woman was trying to catch an elevator from the casino hotel's mezzanine level, Mooney said.

She didn't make it in time - and the momentn pushed the wheelchair through the now-closed doors on the second floor. The elevator car was already on it's way up when she fell. Her wheelchair fell on top of her.

When firefighters arrived, they found the elevator doors off their tracks.

Firefighters had to rig a rope and pulley system to get the injured woman out, Mooney said.

A nursing supervisor at AtlantiCare's Atlantic City campus wasn't immediately authorized to release the injured woman's condition.

Bally's spokeswoman Alyce Parker said the injured woman was staying at the hotel. She said the company is aiding the investigation.


FOXNews.com


Very lucky lady that the car was on it's way up.. ..

Yowch, poor lady.

now that had to be one heck of a hit. Or the doors of that elevator had to be thin. Glad she made it out ok.

That poor woman. She is fortunate indeed!

On a side note, the fact that said casino and Atlantic City in the same article made me remember the school play I recently participated in. One of my lines was, "Remember when we robbed that casino off the boardwalk in Atlantic City? Why, my hand was shaking so badly I thought the gun would go off!"

Gertie Peabody for the win.