Trapped researcher rises from Germany's deepest cave

Fifty-two-year-old researcher Johann Westhauser became trapped in Germany's deepest cave after being hit by a falling rock on June 8.

He was nearly three-quarters of a mile underground.

Now, Westhauser is back on the surface, following what rescue crews call an historic rescue.

Experts had called it impossible.

(SOUNDBITE) (German) CAVE RESCUE OFFICER-IN-CHARGE, KLEMENS REINDL, SAYING:

"At 11.44 am (local time, 09.44 GMT) our patient saw the light of day again. After eleven days, ten hours and 14 minutes, all in all more than 274 hours. It was an operation of a dimension we never had before and that made it necessary to get help from colleagues, from specialists from neighboring countries."

Interior video of the rescue operation showed the man being hoisted up on a stretcher. It's a trek that normally takes 12 hours.

But the injured man could not stand, making the steep, narrow ascent a challenge.

He was taken to an emergency hospital in