Danielle Tammone of Bohemia said she was in her Long Island backyard marking her 47th birthday when the ground under her feet gave way, and she dropped into an eight-foot cesspool. She told 1010 Wins the first sign was her feet sinking into the grass, followed almost at once by the soil opening up.
“It happened so quickly. My feet just sunk a little bit. But it was like seconds. I didn’t even have time, and then I was just, whoop, down a hole, in the ground,” Tammone told 1010 Wins.
She described the muddy water around her in the hole and said she was lucky to be standing on a pile of sod. Tammone said she tried to work her way up the sides of the tight space but could not hold on because the mud was too slick.
Neighbors and police pulled Tammone from the cesspool after she screamed for help
As she shifted in the hole, Tammone said stones and bricks started coming loose and falling. She told the outlet her mind went to the chance that the day would end with her dying or being covered over underground.
“You’re like, ‘Wow, I could die today. This could not end well. I could be buried alive,’ because that’s what you’re thinking,” she told the outlet.
Tammone said she screamed “bloody murder” for about 10 minutes before two people who lived nearby reached her, called 911, and stayed until crews arrived.
The Ring camera at home recorded the shouts. Her golden retriever, Daisy, walked around the opening as she tried to find where the sound was coming from, the report said.
Neighbors Christine Chanowsky and Maggie said they could not identify the source of the noise at first. Chanowsky told CBS News, “At first, we thought she was in the shed or something. We were not looking on the ground.”
In the video, one neighbor said, “Oh my God, she fell into the ground. We are on the phone with 911.” The neighbors’ quick response highlights how sudden ground-related incidents can unfold, as when a woman was shoved to the ground at a New Mexico data center meeting.
The other told Tammone, “You’re going to be fine, Danielle. They are on their way.” They said they spoke with her and urged her to keep calling out until help arrived. Officers arrived with a ladder and brought her up from the hole. The report did not say whether she was hurt.
Tammone said she felt thankful to the neighbors and the officers. Chanowsky said, “I was tearing up. I was crying. As soon as she got out of the hole, just gave her the biggest hug.” After she was out, the group sang her happy birthday. She has been shown in photos with her husband, Marc Levy.
Published: Sep 20, 2026 12:45 pm