Drunk Man Rescued After Night in a Tree

Drunk Man Rescued After Night in a Tree

LONDON (AP) - He was, quite literally, out on a limb. And so on Tuesday, a drunken student who spent the night in a tree had to be rescued by British firefighters.

"Alcohol and climbing trees don't really mix," said Nigel Limbrick, of the Gloucestershire fire department. "In all seriousness, he could've killed himself if he had fallen.

"He had had a skinful and in his inebriated state he climbed 100 feet up a pine tree, without his shoes on. He then fell asleep," Limbrick said. "I'm not quite sure how he managed it, but he woke up wrapped around a branch."

The man, whose name has not been released, is a student at the Gloucestershire College of Arts and Technology in Cheltenham, about 100 miles west of London. He used his cell phone to call firefighters after waking up around dawn, chilly and confused, in the tree.

Eight firefighters needed 90 minutes and ropes and pulleys to get him down from his precarious perch. Paramedics at the scene treated him for some scratches, but he was otherwise uninjured.

"He was a bit quiet when he came down and a bit embarrassed," Limbrick said. "I think he got a bit cold up there. He only had his jeans and T-shirt on and he must have had quite a hangover."