Man Spends X-Mas Eve Stuck In Septic Tank

It was a stinky holiday for Robert Schoff.

The 77-year-old man spent part of Christmas Eve stuck upside down in the opening of his septic tank, with his head inside and his feet kicking in the air above.

"It wasn't good, I'll tell you what," Schoff said Tuesday. "It was the worst Christmas Eve I've ever had."

Schoff reached into the tank Monday in an effort to find a clog, but he lost his balance and got wedged into the opening.

The 5-foot-5-inch 135-pound Schoff hollered and screamed for help, but it was an hour before his wife, Toni, walked by a window and saw his feet in the air.

"I saw these kicking feet and ran out, but couldn't get him out," Toni Schoff said.

She called emergency rescue and two sheriff's deputies yanked her husband out of the tank.

Rescue workers said they had never seen anything like it.

"It's a little different that what we're used to, yes, it's unusual. It's my first time, a little strange, yes," firefighter Eric Erickson told CBS News affiliate KCCI.

After some work, firefighters were able to pull Shoff out of the hole. They said he was covered head to toe in sewage.

"I thought it was the end of my life," Schoff said. "Thank God my wife saw me. I don't think I could have stood staying in there much more."

Rescue workers said Shoff was walking and talking after his ordeal. He was taken to the hospital and doctors said he was OK, before being sent home, reports KCCI.