A near-tragic incident unfolded at Silver Lake Sand Dunes in Michigan last Sunday when a 12-year-old boy became trapped under sand after a dune collapsed on him. The Oceana County sheriff's office reported the boy and his brother were digging a hole in the dune when the sand suddenly collapsed. Fox 2 Detroit detailed how bystanders and emergency personnel worked frantically to free the boy, who had been trapped for more than 10 minutes and was found with just a faint pulse.

In the urgent efforts to rescue the youth, people at the scene, and officers utilized their bare hands and shovels to excavate the sand, as EMS1 reported. Sheriff Craig Mast commended the impromptu rescue team, stating, "It was a very, very scary situation." According to authorities, the boy's condition improved during his transport to the hospital via helicopter. 

Josh Laabs, a bystander who participated in the rescue, described the efforts "It was actually quite organized chaos," and recounted the events in an interview with WZZM 13. Laabs and others took turns digging, ensuring that they could continue the exhausting work until the boy was successfully extricated from beneath the sand. 

Oceana County Sheriff's Lieutenant Shane Hasty underscored the gravity and rarity of this type of accident, "I'm in my 32nd year, and I cannot remember having this happen before to this extent," he told WZZM 13. The boy, whose identity has not been released, was still receiving treatment in a Grand Rapids hospital as of Monday, per the sheriff's office's statement.