SAN ANTONIO - San Antonio Fire rescue teams are familiar with the Robber Barron Cave on the Northeast side. They train there often.

"Our training is usually an hour or two. We run a little scenario," said Adam Miles of the San Antonio Fire Department.

Though last week, Miles and the rest of the team quickly realized this was no training. An 18-year-old was wedged 350 feet inside the cave.

At first, attempts to free her failed.

"Initially the first time I came out I thought, you know maybe an hour, and hour and a half of chipping and we should have her out. I way underestimated the strength of the rock...We went to plan C and D pretty quickly," said Mark Meadows of the San Antonio Fire Department.  

First responders used drills and air chisels to chip away at the rock around her.

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"There were several times that we would say 'ok, I know it's going to hurt but you're going to have to help us,'" said Meadows. "As we'd chip away on her left side, she'd kind of sink to her left side. So we'd try to keep her up to her right."

It took 70 people to help free her. The teenager was stuck for 11 hours and crews say her strength and endurance through it all was impressive.

"We knew her by name and were talking to her and just kind of have a little fun. We'd work rotations and then we'd come back and say 'Hey we're back', and she'd say 'again'?" said Miles.

Nine hours after they arrived on the scene: "There was a definite moment where the rock that was holding her in was chipped away," said Miles. "And she even said, 'I'm free I'm free.' And so that's when they had the harness around her legs and had the harness around her chest. They pulled on both of those and it was a relief."