Teen slips into creek and nearly drowns

STRUTHERS -- A 14-year-old boy escaped a potential tragedy after being sucked into a sewage pipe at the west end of Fifth Street Park while playing with his friends by a creek, police said.
Friends tried to pull out Daniel Webster of Creed Street after he slipped into the creek Thursday afternoon, but the current was too strong, he said.
The current first pulled the shoes off of his feet and then pulled him into the pipe and dragged him under, he said.
Webster said his first thought was that he was going to drown. He said he was able to come up for air when he was halfway through the pipe.
He said his next fear was that he would not be able to get out of the creek before being pulled into another sewage pipe. But after sliding out of the pipe, he floated about 50 feet downstream to some rocks and was able to climb onto the shore.
He sustained minor scrapes on his stomach and arms and bruises on his legs.
Webster said he and his friends did not realize how strong the creek's current was.
Officers instructed the boys to stay out of the creek until the water level subsided.