Massachusetts woman shares how she survived being buried alive after horror entombment

A Massachusetts woman survived after being buried alive and given less than a two percent chance of survival.

Ashley Piccirilli, 35, nearly died in May 2021 after she was buried alive at a construction site in Northampton, about 20 miles north of Springfield.

'If I knew I could've died in that hole, would I have panicked? Maybe. I literally didn’t think I could die,' Piccirilli told WesternMassNews.

The Air Force veteran had been just a week into her new construction job when a wall of dirt collapsed.

One of the trench's side walls crumbled and trapped her under thousands of pounds of dirt - about six feet.

'At first, it only really felt like when a friend comes and meets you and gives you that bear hug and it’s kind of uncomfortable and you don’t really like it and really that’s all it felt like,' Piccirilli told the local news outlet.

She added: 'They know where I am. They’re coming to get me, so I stayed calm through the whole thing…took very, very small breaths.

'I couldn’t take a big breath because there was no room for my lungs to expand because that dirt was packed in.'

It took about 30 minutes to free Piccirilli using an excavator and hands. 

She who had broken ribs, a collapsed lung and internal bleeding.

Baystate Medical Center trauma surgeon Dr. Kristina Kramer told WesternMassNews that Piccirilli was bleeding to death when she arrived at the hospital and her chances of survival were slim to none.

Piccirilli was bleeding so much that the doctors could hear it, something doctors call 'audible hearing,' Kramer explained. 

During her first surgery, her heart stopped but doctors were able to restart it.

Piccitilli spent the next 30 days at the hospital but is now back at home and thriving.

She returned to flight school and is now a pilot at Barnes Air National Guard Base.

'The reason she survived is because of her strength physically and mentally and the teamwork of all the different people that were involved in her care – it’s never one person,' said Dr. Kramer. 

'For trauma in particular there are so many different pieces that must work seamlessly together from pre-hospital providers to the emergency department and operating room teams, to care team on the units after surgery, to rehabilitation and home care. 

'Everyone came together.'