Crushed by Corn: Trapped in a Grain Bin

Summary

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Real Survival Stories: “Crushed by Corn: Trapped in a Grain Bin”

Host: John Hopkins
Main Survivor: Eric Baker
Release Date: March 26, 2026

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Overview

This gripping episode dives into the harrowing true story of Eric Baker, a 23-year-old farmer in rural Iowa, who found himself entombed and nearly crushed to death inside a massive grain bin in June 2013. Through firsthand narration, immersive sound design, and deep reflection, Eric and host John Hopkins unravel a tale of split-second disaster, grueling endurance, and miraculous rescue. Listeners are taken minute-by-minute through Eric’s ordeal, from the moment the corn beneath his feet collapsed to his eventual extraction by a legion of rescuers—offering a rare window into extraordinary survival, the randomness of fate, and the mental resolve needed to outlast death.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: Rural Farming Life (00:33–04:00)

• It’s a sweltering June day in Hardin County, Iowa—a region defined by its dense intergenerational family farms and sprawling cornfields.
• Eric, the youngest and fittest on his family’s operation, routinely handles the most dangerous tasks: entering grain bins to clear blockages.
• Grain bins are massive steel silos that can hold thousands of tons of corn—dangerous “quicksand” containers that claim many lives every year.

2. The Accident: A Split-Second Catastrophe (15:00–20:47)

• Eric details his routine as he enters the bin, armed only with a ventilation mask and a rope makeshift-tied to his shoulder—not ideal safety equipment.
• After successfully breaking up moldy corn with a pole, Eric makes a crucial mistake—jabbing the pole into what seems like a blockage, only to discover it’s a hidden air pocket.
• "I poke it one more time and I actually broke a void." (Eric Baker, 16:32)
• Instantly, the corn collapses into the cavity, and Eric is sucked downward—his foot colliding with the deadly auger still spinning at the base.
• By happenstance, Eric’s father turns the auger off seconds before Eric would have been shredded—unknowingly saving his life.

3. The Fight for Survival: Mental and Physical Ordeal (20:47–28:38)

• Eric is quickly buried alive, his head blanketed in total darkness, only fingertips poking through the dense grain near the surface.
• He describes the initial “pure panic” and his instinct to thrash and scream, only to realize the more he fights, the tighter the corn “squeezes” him.
• "I noticed that the more I kicked and screamed, the harder and tighter I was getting squeezed by the corn." (Eric Baker, 02:57 & 21:49)
• Eventually, he calms himself, breathing through the mask—a random carpentry mask that becomes his only hope.
• He cycles between consciousness and delirium, experiencing physical agony and philosophical reflection: “I was not going to know if I died or not. I was just going to fall asleep and I would never wake up.” (Eric Baker, 03:25 & 24:08)
• His phone buzzes with missed calls and texts—including from his father and a girl he’d started talking to—but Eric is immobilized, unaware, and sinking slowly.

4. The Rescue Rally: Desperation to Hope (28:38–36:54)

• Eric’s father, Rick, returning from a grain delivery, becomes abruptly concerned when Eric fails to answer his phone.
• After seeing Eric’s truck still parked and a rope trailing into the bin, farmhand Kay investigates, pulling the rope (which slips off Eric’s arm), and realizes Eric is most likely buried.
• Firefighters and first responders arrive, believing they're performing a body recovery, not a rescue.
• While searching atop the corn, a sudden blast of cold air from a grain fan revives the nearly unconscious Eric, allowing him to yell—a miraculous stroke of luck.
• Digging frantically, responders find his hand: “After we made contact and they realized I was alive, that’s when everything switched. It went from a recovery to a rescue.” (Eric Baker, 33:55)

5. The Harrowing Extraction: Teamwork and Ingenuity (36:54–41:22)

• Community members swarm the bin; over 100 people ultimately rally to help.
• A specialized rescue tube ("cofferdam") is deployed to shield Eric from the crushing grain, but the pressure is immense—at one point, a firefighter holds the tube together for two hours, injuring himself to keep Eric safe.
• Heavy equipment is brought in: shovels, a bulldozer, powerful vacuums—combining to clear out enormous quantities of corn.
• After nearly five hours trapped, an emotionally and physically depleted Eric is pulled to safety.
• "The first actual time I thought, I think I might live through this, is when that vac was coming underneath my feet and I could feel all that pressure getting released on my feet." (Eric Baker, 40:24)

6. Aftermath & Reflection: Perspective and Lessons (41:22–47:02)

• Eric is hospitalized, suffering acid burns and embedded corn kernels—but miraculously escapes with no life-threatening injuries.
• He returns to farming, haunted less by trauma than by a new sense of wary caution.
• "I call it my spidey sense...just never ending, weighing risks versus rewards, I guess. Just stopping and taking a moment to think, you know, what is the worst case scenario here?" (Eric Baker, 43:43)
• National statistics underscore the gravity: over 300 similar accidents in a decade, with most proving fatal.
• Eric credits his survival to a cascade of small factors—the mask, his age and physical fitness, the timing of his rescue—emphasizing how close he came to joining that fatal majority.
• He closes with a life-affirming reflection: "Everything’s better after you’ve stared death in the face for five hours and walked away from it." (Eric Baker, 46:04)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I was just going to fall asleep and I would never wake up.”
  Eric Baker, 03:25 & 24:08

• “If that kid’s in here, he must be dead, because I don’t hear him or see him.”
  Firefighter, 32:42 (heard by Eric while unconscious)

• “After we made contact and they realized I was alive, that’s when everything switched. It went from a recovery to a rescue.”
  Eric Baker, 33:55

• “Tyler, that firefighter, he actually climbed in the cofferdam with me because the weld started to break. ... Tore his rotator cuff. Never met him before in my life, and that’s what he did.”
  Eric Baker, 39:01

• “Me being here today, without a doubt, number one starts with the mask… Without that being on, there’s no way I would be alive.”
  Eric Baker, 22:34 & 44:35

• “I think everybody would be better off if they could be stuck in a grain bin for a couple hours because it just puts everything into perspective.”
  Eric Baker, 46:04

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Timeline of Important Segments (Timestamps)

• 00:33–04:00: Scene setting, introduction to Eric and rural Iowa farm life.
• 16:32–20:16: The accident—Eric falls into the void, near-miss with auger.
• 20:47–24:29: Buried alive—the psychology of panic, pain, and survival instinct.
• 28:38–31:28: Family and coworkers realize something is wrong and initiate search.
• 32:42–33:55: Near-miracle—Eric revived by cold air, makes contact with rescuers.
• 35:41–41:22: Collective rescue efforts; use of specialized equipment; Eric’s extraction.
• 43:43–46:04: Reflection on risk, learning from experience, new mindset.

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Key Takeaways

• Grain bins are deadly: Few realize the hidden hazards posed by these farm fixtures; complacency or small mistakes can kill in seconds.
• Small things matter: A common carpentry mask—picked up on a whim—granted Eric critical minutes of survival. Split-second decisions determine life or death.
• Modern heroism: The rescue was possible only due to rapid mobilization, local knowledge, and selfless action—community matters deeply in crisis.
• Perspective shift: Surviving near-certain death changes Eric’s relationship to daily stress and risk, teaching him to value life’s basic blessings.

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For first-time listeners or those unfamiliar with farming, this episode offers a rare combination of suspenseful narrative, candid personal philosophy, and communal solidarity—the very heart of survival storytelling.

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Next episode tease:
The preview for next week introduces another gripping survival tale—hiker Jeff Bryden escaping a volcanic eruption in Chile.

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Transcript

[Eric Baker]

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[Narrator]

It's late morning on June 26, 2013, a scorchingly hot day in Hardin county, north central Iowa. The atmosphere is heavy and humid, the gathering heat trapped beneath a wide, unbroken blue sky. The fierce sun bakes the empty asphalt roads and the air shimmers over the patchwork of fields that make up this pocket of America's Midwest. Dotted across the landscape are indications of the area's thriving agricultural output. Family farms owned for generations stretch out over the fields. Here and there you'll find cattle barns, heavy duty machinery and crop storage facilities. Among the largest of these are grain bins, enormous silo like containers. Inside these vast steel structures, thousands of bushels worth of harvested grain are kept lying undisturbed for months at a time. But within one such container, a few pieces of corn slide down a slight U shaped dip in the middle of a mountain of grain. At first glance, there appears to be no reason for the disturbance. The silo is dark and deathly quiet, seemingly devoid of human life. But a closer look into the gloom reveals something else. There, within the U shaped trough in the center of the grain bin, the fingertips of a leather glove are just visible, jutting out from a sea of golden corn. Suddenly they move, grasping at the air. Then a muffled cry comes from somewhere

[Eric Baker]

beneath,

[Narrator]

several feet below the surface, crushed within around 1.3 million pound of corn, Eric Baker is slowly suffocating.

[Eric Baker]

My head's covered. I mean, it's pure dark and the first minute at least was pure panic on my part.

[Narrator]

Entombed in the grain, the 23 year old farmer thrashes and screams, clawing desperately at the kernels as he tries to wriggle free. But it's no use. Nobody can hear Arik's calls for help, and his frantic movements are only making things worse.

[Eric Baker]

I noticed that the more I kicked and screamed, the harder and tighter I was getting squeezed by the corn.

[Narrator]

With tremendous effort, Eric swallows down his panic and tries to slow his hammering heart his own breaths sounding absurdly loud inside the ventilation mask he wears. The mask has brought him some time, but it's only got a short battery life and it doesn't create oxygen. At some point soon he's going to suffocate.

[Eric Baker]

It dawned on me that I was not going to know if I died or not. I was just going to fall asleep and I would never wake up.

[Narrator]

Ever wondered what you would do when disaster strikes if your life depended on your next decision, could you make the right choice? Welcome to Real Survival Stories. These are the astonishing tales of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary situations, people suddenly forced to fight for their lives. In this episode, we meet Eric Baker in June 2013. The 23 year old has recently started working full time on his father's farm in Iowa. As the youngest and fittest employee, Eric is left with some of the most unpleasant, physically demanding tasks, including entering the corn bins to deal with any blockages in the grain flow. But one false move quickly causes a disaster.

[Eric Baker]

The reason I look down is because I'm feeling the cold grain crawl up my sides of my body as I'm falling in. And I mean, this has happened very,

[Narrator]

very quickly, subsumed within seconds beneath hundreds of tons of corn. Each breath becomes an effort and each minute turns into a battle for survival. How can he have any hope of escape when every movement crushes him further?

[Eric Baker]

I started going in and out of consciousness around that point, I'm guessing from lack of oxygen and the heat. I'm not a religious person, but multiple times while I was submerged, I begged God to let me die.

[Narrator]

I'm John Hopkins from the Noise of Podcast Network. This is Real Survival Stories. It's early morning on Wednesday, June 26, 2013. A dusty pickup truck crunches along the surface of a wide, straight road in north central Iowa, deep in America's Midwest. Acres of sprawling fields stretch out either side of the highway, a mosaic of green, brown and gold. Iowa grows more corn than any other state in the country, producing somewhere around 2.5 billion bushels every year. Inside the truck, Eric Baker rolls his aching neck from side to side, preparing himself for another long, hard day of labor. He turns onto a gravel track towards a number of large steel grain bins glinting in the morning sun. He pulls up outside the containers and kills the engine before stepping out of the truck. Although it's still early, the air is already warm and the temperature promises to climb steadily throughout the day. Arik wears canvas shorts and a cutoff T shirt, ready to deal with the worst of the Heat. He makes his way towards the giant grain bins and greets his father, Rick, and a fellow farmhand, Kay. Since the start of the week, the three men have been moving grain from one of the bins to another storage facility 45 minutes away. It's now about half empty, but the men still have a significant amount of work left to do.

[Eric Baker]

I mean, we're a whole farming operation. We have trucks, sprayers, combines, planters. I mean, we do 100% of the farming. So we're hauling grain that was stored in a grain bin and taking it to town in a truck.

[Narrator]

However, things haven't run entirely smoothly Due to heavy rain during the previous year's harvest. The grain is wetter than usual and some of the corn is clumped together inside the bin. For the past couple of days, these chunks of moldy crops have posed a challenge when emptying the container, getting clogged in the drainage system, and stopping the grain flow. As the youngest and the fittest, it has fallen to Arik to deal with the issue when it arises.

[Eric Baker]

My job that week was to go up on the inside of the grain bin. So, you know, you climb up the ladder and down the inside and with a 15 foot PVC pipe, stand in the very center and try to poke and break up that moldy corn blocking our sump. To get more corn out of the

[Narrator]

grain bag, the three men work through the morning to load the first of two trucks with grain. When it's full, K slips into the driver's seat and sets off for the storage facility. Eric and his father turn their attention into the second truck, but it isn't long before the grain flow stalls once more. Sighing, Eric heads for the 72 steps that wind around the exterior of the enormous steel container. As he makes his way up, he puts on a battery powered ventilation mask to help him breathe inside the dusty corn bin. He and his father picked the mask up by chance at a farmer's show the previous winter, thinking it might come in handy.

[Eric Baker]

It's not anything special. It's actually a mask made for carpentry work. It's like a full poly face mask with a cloth strap that goes under your chin and then it's battery powered and just filters air.

[Narrator]

At the top of the stairs, Eric opens the hatch in the roof of the grain bin and climbs inside, having to ignore the large sign warning people not to enter the container if it's running. He secures a thick rope to the top of an inner ladder and loops the other end around his right shoulder. Entering A grain bin is always a dangerous task, particularly if the corn is moving underfoot and the rope should provide him with something solid to hold onto, even if it isn't exactly state of the art safety equipment. Giving the rope a tug to check it's secure, Arik descends the inner ladder into the dim, stifling depths of the enormous grain bin. With a diameter of 48ft, the container can hold up to 60,000 bushels of corn. That's the equivalent of about 1500 metric tons. He climbs off the ladder, his boots sinking into the golden mountain of corn. The colonels shift underfoot as they are churned by the auger, a rotating corkscrew like device at the base of the bin, which moves grain out of the container and into the waiting trucks. The vibrations of the auger tingle through Arik's feet and up his legs as he begins to jab a long PVC pole into the corn, trying to break up any moldy clumps. For Eric, this is still all fairly new. Although he grew up on the family farm, he never took much interest in the work and his father never forced the lifestyle upon him or his siblings.

[Eric Baker]

One thing my dad tried very hard to do was teach us to find passion. You know, do what you love is really the only way life works. So with that in mind, he never ever pushed farming on any of us, on any of the children.

[Narrator]

Arik grew up in a small rural community where he still lives here. Everybody knows each other. Families have lived and worked in this area for generations and few people arrive or leave.

[Eric Baker]

We're really kind of in the middle of nowhere here. Very small, tight knit farm community, small town school. I think I graduated with like 45 or something like that in my grade. And it's goofy because out of those 45 kids, probably 35 of them, we've known each other since we were in diapers together.

[Narrator]

Back then, Eric didn't want to follow the same route as many of his classmates. He had ambitions to leave the small community where he was born and get a taste of life elsewhere. He enrolled in college and started studying for a degree in biochemistry engineering. Although he ultimately found the subject wasn't really for him, he did enjoy the social aspects of university. However, that all changed after Eric turned 21. One day his father Rick came to visit and take his son out for dinner. He had news.

[Eric Baker]

It was clear that, you know, I had no major goals in life. I was just riding the college wave, I guess, of fun and wasn't thinking much past that. And, well, then Rick Bossman came and took me out to eat dinner one night and said, well, Eric, there's no easy way to say this, but the money's getting shut off. You know, the tap's done. You can stay in college and get a job and put yourself through it. You know, that's what your mother did. We're done paying for you to have fun.

[Narrator]

It was a wake up call. Aric decided to drop out of college and get a factory job near his family home. By night, he worked at the factory and by day he helped out on the farm. Though he had no previous agricultural experience, he quickly proved himself capable and found he actually enjoyed aspects of the work. His time at the factory, however, was less successful.

[Eric Baker]

I went and worked in the factory for a year and knew after about the first three minutes that was absolutely no future for me. Easily the worst days of my life, really. It just mind numbingly boring.

[Narrator]

So when in spring 2013, Eric's father suggested he begin working on the farm full time, he had little reason to refuse.

[Eric Baker]

The reason I came back and started farming is because my back was up firmly against a wall and there really was no other option. It truthfully was, well, you know, I'll try it while I'm working this factory job. And then it was like, okay, well this is definitely better than the factory job after a year. So then went to do the farming full time and just kind of fell in love with it, I guess. It's a very unique way of life.

[Narrator]

The work is hard but rewarding. Every day bringing a new task or challenge. And today is no exception.

[Eric Baker]

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[Narrator]

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[Eric Baker]

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[Narrator]

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[Eric Baker]

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[Narrator]

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[Eric Baker]

Availability, amount of discounts and savings and

[Narrator]

eligibility vary by state. Back inside the container, sweat prickles the nape of Aric's neck and runs down his back as he stabs the pole into the corn, breaking up the crusted clumps. With the sun beating down upon it, it's sweltering. Inside the metal structure, the temperature hovers just below 60 degrees Celsius, and Arik's discomfort is only increased by the weight of the 15 pound mask secured to his head. But he grits his teeth and powers on. It shouldn't be much longer before the second truckload is full and he can escape the sticky, stifling air of the dusty grain bin. By about 10:30am, they're nearly there. Above Eric, there is a whistle and he looks up. From the hatch at the top, he can see the face of his father looking down. He lets his son know that the second truck is almost full and he's going to switch the auger off to stop the grain flood. Aric nods and his dad's face disappears. He can hear Rick's footsteps as he makes his way down the metal staircase on the outside of the bin. Relieved that he'll soon get a break from the sweltering furnace, Eric decides to give the corn one last prod with the pole before climbing out. And that's when everything changes.

[Eric Baker]

I poke it one more time and I actually broke a void. It wasn't a like a chunk of moldy corn, it was actually a void underneath all that corn. There was like a hole on top of that sump. So when I poked it that one time, I pierced that hole, that void, and then fell into the corn.

[Narrator]

The corn suddenly gives way beneath Arik's feet and he is sucked downwards like he's being swallowed by quicksand. Unbeknownst to him, a thick shelf of rotten corn has formed a few feet above the bin's floor. As the container has emptied, the corn underneath it has drained out, leaving a large air pocket. With that final jab into the grain, Arik has broken the very shelf that was supporting him. In a matter of seconds, everything in the grain bin is sucked into the air pocket by gravity and the pull of the auger. More corn collapses down into the newly created funnel, rushing like water to fill the space. Arik glances down, barely able to react to what is happening.

[Eric Baker]

The reason I look down is because I'm feeling the cold rain crawl up my sides of my body as I'm falling in. And I mean, this has happened very, very quickly.

[Narrator]

He shouts for his father and tries to scramble out, but nobody can hear him and the corn already has his legs in an inescapable grip. Acting on instinct, Arik scrabbles blindly for the rope on his right shoulder and manages to grab it with his hand. The grain continues to rise around him as he is sucked down towards the floor of the bin. Panic surging in his gut. He tries to haul himself up using the rope, but the downward pull is too strong. He's only going one way. His head rapidly vanishes beneath the surface of the grain. The corn piles on top of him, adding to the weight as he is dragged down through the dark path. As he descends, an unmistakable vibration thrums through him. The auger is still running below, and Arik is being carried directly towards.

[Eric Baker]

Was still running. So not only did I break that void, but then everything underneath it is moving, getting pulled out of the grain bin. So I was going down with it.

[Narrator]

Arik flails and jerks as he is sucked further into the depths of the grain bin, plunged into total, terrifying darkness. The weight of the corn presses in from all sides, squeezing and crushing him, his bones creaking in a lethal embrace. He screams out, but his cries are swallowed up by the grain and the steadily increasing roar of the auger at the bottom of the container. The vibrations from the machine intensify as he is pulled further towards it. He has just seconds until his body becomes entangled in its sharp metal blades. A jolt runs through his leg as his right foot suddenly collides with the top of the augur's gearbox. He is mere inches from being pulverized. And then, all of a sudden, the noise stops. His father must have reached the auger's controls outside and switched it off, not realizing that he has, in the process, just saved his son's life.

[Eric Baker]

The only reason I stopped is because the grain bin got shut off. He finally made it down off the ladder and shut the grain bin off so everything quit moving.

[Narrator]

The growl of the augur dies away, leaving nothing but the sound of Arik's own panicked breathing and the rustle of the corn settling above him. Outside. His father climbs into his truck and drives off, totally unaware of his son's horrific fate. In just a handful of seconds, Eric has been buried alive.

[Eric Baker]

Is black because my head's covered. I mean, it's pure dark. And the first minute was pure panic on my part.

[Narrator]

He squirms and writhes instinctively, trying to fight his way free, but he's being squeezed so tightly he can barely move. In fact, every movement makes things worse. Claustrophobia and terror take hold.

[Eric Baker]

Just pure panic. Thrashing. I mean, kicking as much as possible. And then. I don't know why, but I just got calm. While being calm, I was able to use my brain, because that's the problem with panicking, is you can't think when you're panicking. It's the Opposite of being able to think. So after I was able to calm down, I started thinking. I noticed that the more I kicked and screamed, the harder and tighter I was getting squeezed by the corn,

[Narrator]

Arik takes a long, shuddering breath and forces his twitching limbs to keep still. But even breathing is an effort. The expansion of his chest and diaphragm push painfully against the grain, limiting the amount of air he can take into his lungs. Not that there's much oxygen to be had in his current position. Thankfully, he is still wearing his bulky mask, the helmet and visor providing him with a modicum of protection around his face. Just enough to stop him from being totally smothered by the grain. Just enough to allow him to gasp in little bursts of oxygen. It isn't much, but it has bought him a bit more time.

[Eric Baker]

Without a doubt, without that being on, there's no way I would be alive. I mean, 100% chance of death.

[Narrator]

In his current position, with his right foot on the gearbox and his left foot a step or two higher, Arik looks like a statue, a figure frozen in time. The rope is still looped around his right arm, which points out in front of him, while his left arm sticks straight up into the air. All that's visible of Arik are his gloved left fingertips just jutting out of the kernels. They're the only indication that he was ever in the grain bin.

[Eric Baker]

I focused on getting my work glove off because it was hot. It was 135 degrees in that grain bin, so I was hot. And at the time I thought, you know, if I could just get that glove off, I could have, like, a little vent sticking up out of the grain and maybe I'd cool off a little bit.

[Narrator]

With tiny incremental movements, he tries to wriggle his left hand free of his glove. As he works, the pressure exerted across his body soon becomes intolerable. Anytime he tries to move even a fraction of an inch, more corn kernels rush in, and he ends up being squeezed even tighter than before. With over 600 tons of grain pressing around him, the pain is nearly unbearable. But strangely, there is a measure of solace in the discomfort.

[Eric Baker]

The pain became a good thing because it dawned on me that I was not going to know if I died or not. I was just going to fall asleep and I would never wake up. And that is what that was going to be. And after I had that thought, that's when the pain became good. If I can feel pain, that means I'm alive.

[Narrator]

But for how much longer? Nobody knows what has happened to him. His father won't be back for another couple of hours. And worse still, at some point K will return to the grain bin, ready to fill his truck up again. The he will likely turn the auger back on as soon as he parks up. And if that happens, Eric doesn't stand a chance.

[Eric Baker]

The first driver coming back, that was in my mind just with where I was in that bend. If that bend would have been turned on at all, I would have been coming out that auger in chunks. But the brain is a fascinating, fascinating tool, and it does an incredible job of blocking out things that aren't helpful, helpful when your life's in danger.

[Narrator]

He waits, motionless and silent in the darkness. The air grows thick and stale, the available oxygen diminishing with every breath he manages to suck in. The clock is ticking in his pocket. Eric's phone vibrates with the occasional message, but he's incapable of reaching it. One of the texts is from a girl he's recently started speaking to. It reads, did you die, mister, or are you just not talking with me today? But for now, Eric is unaware. He remains totally immobile, totally powerless. Time crawls by and the mood becomes darker.

[Eric Baker]

I thought of a football coach I had in high school. He was huge into, don't make excuses, and took it a little too far. I thought about him quite a bit at one point. I kind of remember sobbing, crying, laughing or whatever. Like, I wonder if he would think this is a decent enough excuse. Thought about death. Truthfully, the realization that tomorrow's gonna happen regardless if I'm there. I pictured the funeral and pictured all my friends, and I would have been the first one in my small grade of 45 kids to die.

[Narrator]

Eric has no sense of time in the black, sweltering depths of the silo. Eventually, his senses become muddied and confused. He's slipping away.

[Eric Baker]

I started going in and out of consciousness. I'm guessing from lack of oxygen and the heat. The breathing was hard. I'm not a religious person, but multiple times while I was submerged, I begged God to let me die. I was tired of fighting it, and it was just one of those moments where it's like, okay, man, if you're there, come and get me, because I want to be gone. I'm done trying to fight this. Now streaming the time traveling comedy movie of the year has arrived. Mike and Nick and Nick and Alice. Only on Hulu. The film stars Vince Vaughn, James Marsden and Asa Gonzalez in a wild action comedy about one disastrous night that spirals out of control. And here's the twist. There are two Vince Vaughns. Don't miss Mike and Nick and Nick and Alice. Written and directed by Ben David Grabinski. Now streaming only on Hulu. Rated R. This episode is brought to you by Redfin. You're listening to a podcast, which means you're probably multitasking, maybe even scrolling home listings on Redfin, saving homes without expecting to get them. But Redfin isn't just built for endless browsing. It's built to help you find and own a home with agents who close twice as many deals. When you find the one, you've got a real shot at getting it. Get [e-mail] own the dream.

[Narrator]

It's Wednesday, June 26, 2013 late morning a battered semi truck loaded with corn rolls smoothly down a highway in north central Iowa. Inside the air conditioned cab, Rick Baker tries to phone his son, Eric. His nerves tighten as the call rings out. No answer. This isn't the first time Rick's tried to contact Eric since leaving him in

[Eric Baker]

the grain bin at 10:32am I missed a call from Rick saying, here, like a jackass. I didn't wait to make sure you came out of the grain bin to see you're all right, so just give me a call when you get out of there.

[Narrator]

After leaving several unanswered voicemails, Rick's worry grows. He drums his fingers against the steering wheel, considering the implications of his son's silence. Then he calls K, the other driver who's been helping haul the grain today, and asks him to check on Eric when he gets back to the corn bin. Around two hours after Eric was first submerged in the grain, Kay returns to the container with his empty truck. Eric's own vehicle is still parked outside, but there's no sign of its driver. Frowning, Kaye heads for the container's external staircase, the clang of his footsteps ringing out in the heavy, silent air. He peers down through the roof hatch and calls Eric's name. No reply. Squinting into the gloom at first Kay can see nothing but the undisturbed surface of the corn. But when he looks again and looks closer, he spots the rope plunging straight down into the grain, and there are Arik's left fingertips, stiff and motionless. Horrified, Kay grabs hold of the rope and pulls. There is a hint of resistance before the line goes slack as it slithers off Arik's arm and breaks the surface of the corn. It dangles limp and useless above the grain without the support of the rope. Arik sinks further into the corn, his fingertips disappearing Beneath the surface.

[Eric Baker]

When Kay pulled that rope off, I thought it was a snake for some reason. I was getting pretty loopy, apparently, but it just, oh, my God, it's a snake crawling through the cord. But once again, the brain blocking things out. At no point did I think, this means I'm completely hidden underneath this corn now. I didn't think of that one time.

[Narrator]

Immediately realizing the severity of the situation, Kay and Rick contact the emergency services, and a team of firefighters is dispatched. But one thing is made clear. The crew are most likely heading out for a recovery, not a rescue.

[Eric Baker]

When they arrived on site, they were there for a body recovery. There's no way I was alive, period.

[Narrator]

Two of the firefighters scale the metal ladder, climb through the hatch, and lower themselves into the grain bin. They begin tramping across the corn, calling Eric's name, more in hope than expectation. And as they search, their movements are actually causing more harm. With every step, the grain shifts, burying Arik further beneath its crushing weight. In the stifling darkness, the young farmer is unconscious, unaware that his potential rescuers stand just a few feet above his head. The two firefighters look at each other, their faces taut and grim. There's no way he's still alive. But then something miraculous happens.

[Eric Baker]

And the firefighters were standing directly above me, and I heard one of the radios come on. I heard they'll click on it. And they said, well, if that kid's in here, he must be dead, because I don't hear him or see him. And luck as you have it, just as that happened, a firefighter on the outside turned a giant fan on. Every rain band has it, but it's made to blow air up, and that's how you get grain to store. We're Talking like a 50 horsepower motor on a big fan, like, big boy fan. And that cold air coming up, I think is what woke me up, to be able to hear them on the radio when they were standing above me.

[Narrator]

Arik opens his eyes, his senses prickling as a rush of cold air blasts across him. He is back from the brink. Instantly, he begins yelling at the top of his lungs, using every scrap of his remaining strength to try to make himself heard through the layers of corn and the roar of the fan above, the incredulous firefighters drop to their knees. They begin digging through the grain like dogs, following the faint sound of Arik's voice. By the time they find his outstretched left hand, they are elbow deep in the corn.

[Eric Baker]

After we made contact and they realized I was alive, that's when everything switched. It went from a Recovery to a rescue. And they showed up in three.

[Narrator]

Emergency services are quickly mobilized from across the area as news of the accident spreads through the small community. Friends and neighbors also show up to see if they can assist. Soon. Well over 100 people have amassed the grain bin, all willing to help in any way that they can. But even now, there's no guarantee Eric will survive. Extracting him from the container will be a complex, lengthy, and risky process. The firefighters work as fast as they can, digging frantically. But every time they manage to clear the corn away, more kernels fall into the newly created space. If this is going to work, they're going to need some specialized kit. Soon, a grain rescue tube, or cofferdam is brought in, a type of hollow cylinder made from interlocking curved steel sections, which can be placed around a person to relieve the pressure of the grain. But with most of Eric's body still submerged, it's difficult to work out exactly where to place the tube.

[Eric Baker]

At this point, it's only my left hand that's above the grain. And they're hollering down, you know, where are your feet at? And with my hand, I point down. Where's your head at? I point back like that. So then they get this cofferdam in place and start pushing it down, trying to get it around me.

[Narrator]

While this is happening inside, volunteers outside try to create openings in the sides of the bin and siphon out as much of the corn as they can.

[Eric Baker]

They're cutting holes in the side of the bin on the outside. That was a slow process at first because it was all manpower. I mean, shovels, and people were using their fire helmets, shoveling corn away. And we're talking thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of bushels later.

[Narrator]

It will be estimated that parts of Arik's body are under £1,000 per square inch of pressure, the equivalent of being crushed by around 30 African elephants. Even with all the people that have showed up to help, it's still impossible to release him from the tightly packed grain. At one point, the firefighters are able to dig down far enough inside the cofferdam to uncover Arik's head. He squints into the light and sees the faces of his rescues. The relief of breathing cleaner, fresher air is palpable. But it doesn't last long.

[Eric Baker]

They found my face, and then after they uncovered my face for the first time, I'm still wearing the helmet. I was buried 15, 20 times after that. So, I mean, I get a little bit of daylight coming up from my mask, and then poof block. Once again,

[Narrator]

survival is tantalizingly close but remains far from certain. His odds are still not good.

[Eric Baker]

I think it was really because of the fact that I kept getting buried that I just had no expectations, period. It's easier to be in the moment when you're not expecting an outcome and I was in survival mode. Your little one grew three inches overnight. Adorable. Also expensive. Sell their pint sized pieces on Depop and list them in minutes with no selling fees because somewhere a dad refuses to pay full price for the clothes his kids will outgrow tomorrow and he's ready to buy your son's entire wardrobe right now. Consider your future growth Bird budget secured. Start selling on Depop where taste recognizes taste. Payment processing fees and boosting fees still apply. See website for details. This episode is brought to you by Athletic Brewing Co. No matter how you do game day, on the couch, in the crowd, or manning the snack table, Athletic Brewing fits right in with a full lineup of non alcoholic beer styles you can enjoy bold flavors all game long. No hangovers, no buzz, no subbing out for water in the second half. Stock the fridge for tip off with a variety of non alcoholic craft styles available at your local grocery store or online at athleticbrewing.com near Beer Fit for all times

[Narrator]

the firefighters continue to work, sweat glistening on their brows as the oppressive heat of the silo intensifies. But his strange sound causes them to pause. The grinding, groaning sound of bending metal. The weight of the corn on the cofferdam has become so great that it's buckling under the pressure. One of the firefighters bursts into action.

[Eric Baker]

Tyler, that firefighter, he actually climbed in the cofferdam with me because the weld started to break on it and corn started coming in on it. And at this point, I mean, I'm still buried in corn, you know, maybe neck high, if not higher with this cofferdam around me. And then corn starts coming in. I'm just sitting there now. That's when Tyler crawled in the coffer dam with me and put his knee against the broken weld and held it for two hours. Tore his rotator cuff. Never met him before in my life and that's what he did.

[Narrator]

Hours pass inch by inch. They are able to uncover more of Arik's body, though it's still not yet possible to move him outside. The chaos of so many people descending on the grain bin has forced a road closure. Among the vehicles that has been stopped is a bulldozer. Unsurprisingly, in such a small community, it transpires that Aric's father knows the bulldozer's owner and manages to commandeer it to help extract his son from the grain. After that, things get easier. The bulldozer is quickly able to clear vast quantities of corn from the bin. Concurrently, a large vacuum is brought in to suck the grain out from below. Arik relieving the pressure on his feet and legs. Finally, they seem to be getting some somewhere.

[Eric Baker]

The first actual time I thought, I think I might live through this is when that back was coming underneath my feet and I could feel all that pressure getting released on my feet. Even though I'm still pressurized up here, my feet were getting released. That's when the blood started to work again. I didn't have as much adrenaline going through my veins apparently, because things became much more painful very, very quickly.

[Narrator]

A final flurry of digging, a final almighty heave. And at around 3pm, five hours after he was first buried, Arik is at last pulled free. He collapses on top of one of the firefighters. The two men fall to the ground, both too exhausted from the heat and the physical exertion to hold themselves upright. Arik is placed on a stretcher and carried out into the blinding daylight, much to the relief of his parents and friends.

[Eric Baker]

It was bright. It was so bright because I'm laying on the stretcher head first. They take me out of the door head first. Then all of a sudden, it's 3 o' clock in July. So full sunlight, I mean, heat of the day.

[Narrator]

With his ordeal finally over, what comes next is a blur of words and faces. Eric is airlifted to hospital where they can begin the painful process of cleaning him up. He has corn embedded into every inch of his skin. Incredibly, he has survived with relatively moderate injuries. The worst damage is to his right leg.

[Eric Baker]

My right leg was exposed into it the whole time I was in the band. And I had horrible acid burns on the back of my leg from just the corn acid eating my skin. They didn't do anything about that the first day I was in the hospital. It was the second day that they came in to give me my bath. Holy cow. No kindness awards there, let me tell you. They were scrubbing and oh, my God, that was horrible.

[Narrator]

After two days recuperating in hospital, he's allowed to go home. On the way back, he stops to see the corn bin that almost claimed his life.

[Eric Baker]

The thing that shocked me the most is there was like 18,000 bushels of grain on the ground that, like, came out of the bin to get me out. It was Completely cleaned up two days later. I mean, the holes were still in the side of the bin and everything, but all the grain that was on the ground was cleaned up. It's almost like it didn't happen.

[Narrator]

Eric's physical injuries heal fairly quickly, and he's soon back working on the farm. Surprisingly, he finds he isn't too badly affected by any lingering trauma. From his experience,

[Eric Baker]

I can't say I was ever having trouble with it. You know, I've been in that same grain bin 20 times since then. It doesn't bother me.

[Narrator]

However, the accident did affect him in other ways. These days, he says he is much more aware of risks than he ever was before, having experienced firsthand how complacency can have catastrophic consequences.

[Eric Baker]

I call it my spidey sense. Kind of like spidey man, you know, he always kind of tingles when something's about to get thrown at him or whatever. But it's more constant, just never ending. Weighing risks versus rewards, I guess. Just stopping and taking a moment to think, you know, what is the worst case scenario here?

[Narrator]

Eric's experience isn't as rare or unusual as you may think. Between 2014 and 2023, there were 315 similar farming accidents in the US alone, and more than half of those were fatal. A number of factors combined to mean that Eric did not join that list. From the tireless work of his rescuers to Arik's age and mental fortitude and even what he was wearing that day.

[Eric Baker]

Me being here today, without a doubt, number one starts with the mask. I would have been found with about 2.1 ish pounds of corn in my body, and I would have suffocated within the first 90 seconds. Without that help, they're guessing. The entire time I was submerged, my heart rate was between 230 and 235 beats a minute. Age is one of the main reasons I was alive. The doctors then told me if I would have been five years younger, I would have been crushed by the pressure. If I would have been five years older, I would have had a heart attack. I was in decent enough shape to withstand the physical exertion that was on my body. At one point, I was in the grain band, and I decided that this isn't how I was gonna die. Back in the day, there was a show, a thousand ways to die. Some of those were ridiculous. Like, almost like, there's no way this is real. And I thought about that show a lot. Just, you know, the kid dies in grain band. After walking past the warning sign that says do not enter. And I'm that stupid son of a bitch that's in here dead. And I just refused to be that person.

[Narrator]

After his own father died in 2019, Eric took over running the farm where he now works and has a family of his own. Rather than regretting the harrowing experience, he focuses on what it taught him, using those lessons to live in a thoughtful, considered way and make the most of what he has.

[Eric Baker]

I think everybody would be better off if they could be stuck in a grain bin for a couple hours because it just puts everything into perspective. Farming is a high stress job, lots of money, lots of unknowns, lots of variables, just completely out of my control. But compared to being stuck in a grain bin, every day is a pretty easy day. And does anything actually matter? You know, I mean, if we get to go home safe at the end of the day, then okay, what might be making me frustrated, making me angry, making me stressed, anxious? Whatever it is right now, if I'm dead, all of those things don't matter anymore. So why do I let them bother me when I'm alive? Everything's better after you've stared death in the face for five hours and walked away from it.

[Narrator]

Next time on Real Survival Stories. We meet Jeff Bryden in 2015. The 25 year old is hiking the Villarrica Traverse, a 32 mile, three day trek across some of Chile's most awe inspiring scenery. The hike will take him within touching distance of several of the country's magnificent volcanoes. Despite their beauty, these peaks remain active and potentially deadly. And when Jeff awakes on the final morning of his trek to find the world smothered by a dense haze of ash. He has to quickly scramble to evacuate the unstable area. But the eruption has eliminated all signs of the trail and a twisting, terrifying journey ensues. Toxic fumes, zero visibility and the threat of further eruptions all hang heavy in the air. That's next time on Real Survival Stories. Listen right now without waiting and without ads by joining noizur di appezado miraiesto TikTok esta lleno de mascotas divertidas y momentos que de ritane el corazonos y comparte a tu propio peludo descarga TikTok aura.

[Eric Baker]

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