Cobb boy OK after being pinned by massive boulder

Dan Marlow is a typical pilot -- calm and cool.

So when he came running inside Sunday afternoon and told his wife, "This is really, really bad," she knew he wasn't exaggerating.

A massive boulder had rolled down a slope and pinned their son, Charles, against another rock. The boulder was crushing his legs, and the 14-year-old was screaming. Family, friends and neighbors could not budge it.

"I was panicked, thinking when they get this off I'm going to have bones sticking out of my legs," Charles told the AJC Wednesday. "How am I going to walk? I'm on the swim team and I'm thinking, ‘how am I going to swim?' "

After calling 911, Charles' mother, Jeanine Marlow, called her parents and asked them to pray.

Marietta firefighters arrived quickly. In 20 to 25 minutes, the 12-man crew used hydraulic equipment to lift the boulder four to six inches. At the same time they inserted wood cribbing to prevent the boulder from slipping back.

"They got here so fast and did such a wonderful job," Jeanine Marlow said. "I just want to stress what a great, great job they did."

Charles, who was pinned about half an hour, was kept overnight at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston. He suffered only a broken bone in his right foot, plus some swelling, cuts and bruises.

"It's just a miracle," Jeanine Marlow said. "The doctors were just amazed."

The Marlows' home sits at the base of Kennesaw Mountain. Cross a creek in their back yard, and there's a big hill dotted with trees and rocks. Large rocks.

Charles, the youngest of four children and an 8th-grader at Cornerstone Preparatory Academy in Acworth, was on that hill with a friend when they decided to go sledding in the snow. They headed inside to grab a board.

Charles was making his way down when he braced himself against the boulder so he wouldn't slip. He didn't see the boulder begin to move.

"Halfway down I look back and it starts falling," he recalled. "I tried to run a little and jump out of the way. I just didn't have time. It went way too fast. It pinned me against another rock."

He couldn't wiggle out. His friend ran for help.

The boulder, which rolled 10 yards, weighs about 1,300 pounds, according to fire officials.

Marietta Assistant Fire Chief Kelly Caldwell said the biggest challenge was getting heavy equipment across the creek and up the embankment fast.

"The really fortunate part was that it was his lower extremities that were trapped, not his torso or head," Caldwell said.