Illinois man trapped in tree overnight after dog attack

BELLEVILLE, Ill. – Southern Illinois authorities say a man was seriously injured when he spent a night trapped in a tree he’d scaled to escape an attacking dog.

The Belleville Fire Department says a woman heard the 38-year-old man calling for help Wednesday morning and found him stuck about 4 feet (1.2 metres) off the ground in a tree in Belleville’s Bicentennial Park.

The man told firefighters who rescued him after about 11 hours in the tree that he’d climbed it Tuesday night after a dog chased him, but his knee became lodged in a fork in the tree, trapping him there.

Belleville Fire Chief Tom Pour says the man’s knee was seriously injured due to a lack of circulation. KTVI-TV reports the man was flown to a St. Louis hospital for treatment.