Boy Who Fell In Sand Dune May Go Home This Week

Nathan Woessner fell into a sinkhole at Mt. Baldy in Michigan City, Ind.

The 6-year-old boy who was buried for three hours under sand at the Indiana Dunes this month may be home by the end of the week, family members said.

Nathan Woessner's parents told NBC's "Today" show their son has been getting up, moving around and even made a trip down the hall at Comer Children's Hospital on Sunday.

“We’re just very, very grateful for everything they did for Nathan," his mother, Faith Woessner, said. “We can’t express our gratitude enough for the rescuers, and the nursing staff and everybody that’s helped bring Nathan back to us, and we’re thankful to God for being there with us and bringing Nathan back to us.”

Woessner fell into a sinkhole sometime after 4 p.m. July 12 at Mt. Baldy in Michigan City, Ind., and was buried under 11 feet of sand. It took 50 first responders to dig him out.

Woessner's father, Greg, said he "just frantically wanted to get to him" and focus on his son kept him going.

"We are extremely thankful for not just his survival but everybody that had a role to play," Greg Woessner said, "and I can't say enough about everyone involved."

Woessner's grandfather, Pastor Don Reul, said the boy was walking to the top of the popular dune with his dad, an adult friend of the family and another boy when he fell.

"They immediately went back, and he was nowhere to be seen," Reul said. "The ground had swallowed him up."

Doctors said last Monday they expect the boy to be released from the hospital within 10 to 14 days. His condition had been listed as critical before Thursday.

The Mount Baldy area at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore will remain closed indefinitely following the accident.

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