Long Island, USA: Danielle Tammone trapped 2.5m underground in hole in her backyard on 47th birthday

A woman has had a shocking birthday surprise when she wound up trapped almost 2.5 metres underground.

Danielle Tammone was in her backyard in Long Island, New York, on September 17 when the terrifying ordeal happened.

Walking across her yard, the ground gave way beneath her and she fell into a hole which was about eight feet deep (2.4 metres).

She told CBS News that she immediately screamed for help.

“People suffocate and they die, so I thought that at first,” she said.

Ms Tammone was celebrating her 47th birthday when the terrifying fall happened.

She said she believed she was trapped underground for about half an hour.

“It’s my birthday. This might be my death date,” she said.

“I couldn’t breathe well, because I was gasping, and scared and crying.”

Neighbours heard the 47-year-old’s desperate screams for help and came running.

“At first, we thought she was in the shed or something. We were not looking on the ground,” neighbour Christine Chanowsky said.

Unable to figure out where Ms Tammone was, Ms Chanowsky and the other neighbour encouraged her to keep screaming.

When she was located underground, the neighbours said, “Oh my god... we are on the phone with 911” as they assured Ms Tammone she was “going to be fine”.

To rescue her, emergency services used a ladder to get through mud, water, and roots.

“I was tearing up, I was crying,” Ms Chanowsky said.

“As soon as she got out of the hole, just gave her the biggest hug.”

Ms Tammone, a physical therapist, experienced whiplash and pulled muscles from the fall and is now working on her recovery.

She described the first responders as “wonderful” and said they “all sang happy birthday” to her.