Homeless Man Escapes Garbage Truck After Being Crushed

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VICTORIA - It was a wake up call that nearly killed him and a member of Victoria's street community knows he is very lucky to be alive.

The near death experience has police, the driver of a garbage truck and witnesses in a state of shock; a homeless man crawling out from inside the truck after it had crushed several loads of garbage.

The man had been rummaging in a garbage bin and fell asleep. He says he only woke up when the truck began crushing his legs.

For several harrowing minutes, the force of the blade inside the truck squeezed him into the garbage.

It was only when the truck stopped to take on more garbage, the man saw his chance to escape by climbing onto the uncrushed garbage and jumping on to the truck's roof

BFI Canada, the company that owns the truck, says the driver is still in shock.

"There's only one way out of that truck and that's through the back," says BFI spokesperson Nick Houniet "He is very lucky."

Through it all, even though the dumpster survivor is a shaken and in a little pain, he's managed to find some humour in the experience.

"I am glad the truck didn't have one of those 'Star Wars" monsters", he jokes referring to the a scene from the original movie "I didn't have my light sabre with me."

But ultimately he realizes it is time to get off the street and find a safe warm place to live, with an alarm clock to wake him up.


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