A camper ended up in a nightmare scenario after tumbling into a toilet while attempting to recover a pair of dropped sunglasses.
Plenty of people have experienced the frustration of losing something in an unfortunate place, with phones often being the usual casualty.
In this case, however, it was a pair of sunglasses that slipped away.
The incident happened on Saturday, June 20, at Camp Edison in Shaver Lake, California, where emergency responders from Cal Fire were called in to help.
The man reportedly fell into a non-flushing vault toilet at the campsite. These toilets, also known as dry toilets, rely on a sanitation setup that works without running water or a direct plumbing connection, which can make any retrieval attempt especially risky.
Reports say the camper was stuck in sewage for roughly 15 minutes before rescuers were able to pull him free.
Speaking to yourcentralvalley.com, Sgt Chris Tullus explained: “Via a Spanish translator, they advised that the subject had fallen into the chemical storage tank.”
He went on: “Law enforcement, Camp Edison staff and fire personnel responded and were able to safely get him out, decontaminate him, and he’ll be okay.”
Tullus said the man did not suffer any injuries, though he did require a thorough clean-up after the incident.
It remains unclear whether he ever managed to get his sunglasses back.
Camp Edison is a popular lakefront campground in the Sierra National Forest, and the rescue drew in multiple agencies because of the confined, unsanitary nature of the toilet tank and the need to decontaminate the victim afterward.
A comparable incident made headlines in 2022, when a woman fell into a public toilet while trying to retrieve her phone.
That episode happened near the summit of Mount Walker in Washington. After dropping her cellphone into the toilet, she removed the seat and used dog leads in an attempt to fish it out.
When that failed, the woman, who was said to be in her 40s, tied the leads to herself in an effort to stay secure while reaching farther in.
That plan also went wrong, and she eventually fell head first into the toilet.
Ironically, the fall did reunite her with her phone, allowing her to call 911 and bring firefighters to the scene.
Speaking afterwards, Brinnon Fire Department Chief Tim Manly said: “I imagine that she was probably very fortunate. I don’t have any experience with that kind of a rescue, except for now, but I know that is not a good place to be.”
The woman was not hurt, but she was advised to get medical attention because of her exposure to human waste.
A grim ending to an already unpleasant ordeal.