Details of how man buried alive was rescued

A young man continues to fight for his life in hospital after he was buried alive in a hole that had been dug in order to cook a pig.

Josh Taylor, 25, remains in hospital in a critical condition after he was without a pulse for 45 minutes after being pulled from the hole on Bribie Island, north of Brisbane, just before 2pm on Saturday.

Fifteen men were needed to pull Mr Taylor free from under the sand and he suffered serious injuries, partly due to the force of being rescued from beneath metres of sand.

A Queensland Health spokeswoman confirmed Mr Taylor remained in a critical but stable condition in the intensive care unit after he was flown to the Princess Alexandra Hospital on Saturday.

A witness who helped rescue Mr Taylor was told the group had dug the hole to cook a pig, similar to the traditional Maori hangi.

“He stood up off the chair, the sand had given away a little bit underneath him,” Nathan told 7 News on Sunday night.

“He stumbled back. He’d put his arms out to obviously break the fall. He’s continued going down and knocked sand as he’s put his arms out.”

Nathan was leaving the beach with his family when a group of men ran over yelling for help to rescue their friend from under the sand.

When he arrived at the scene, Mr Taylor’s family and friends were desperately digging to get him out.

“I realised someone was head first in a hole and I was just digging, digging, digging,” he said.

“When I first went up to the hole, I couldn’t even see his foot. That’s how deep it was.”

There were more than 15 people digging in the sand to get the man out before paramedics and rangers arrived.

“All of his family were screaming at us, telling us to help, telling us to get rope so we could pull him out. It was pretty gruesome,” Nathan said.

“There were like 15 men on the rope pulling and he did not budge.”

After some time of pulling and digging, Mr Taylor finally burst through the surface of the sand, but the force of being pulled out caused him further injury, Nathan said.

“It was pretty gnarly when he popped out. I threw up,” he said.

“He broke. The suction, the force of everyone pulling.”

When they got him out, Mr Taylor did not have a pulse and rangers began performing CPR.

Rangers in the area also applied a defibrillator before paramedics arrived.

A helicopter pilot landed on the beach to deliver the RACQ LifeFlight Rescue critical care doctor and flight paramedic as close to the scene as possible.

The rescue crew then flew Mr Taylor to Princess Alexandra Hospital in a critical condition for further treatment.

It’s understood it took 45 minutes before the man’s pulse returned.

QAS Paramedic Peter Batt praised the actions of the people who helped out.

“The fact that they have got a return of pulse on this young man after an extended period of CPR, is evidence that good CPR was being done, it’s a credit to those people who got in and helped with their first aid,” he said.

The doctors at Princess Alexandra are now working to save the man’s life. He remains in a critical but stable condition in ICU.

Bribie Island, part of Queensland’s Moreton Bay region, is a popular holiday destination.

People who frequent the island shared their concern about Mr Taylor on social media over the weekend.

“Hope he is alright,” Dan Byrd wrote on a Bribie Island Facebook group.

Do you know more? Email madeleine.achenza@news.com.au