( CNN ) -- The 6-year-old boy swallowed whole in an Indiana sand dune over the weekend could make a full recovery , a medical official said Monday . Rescuers dug furiously for three and a half hours to extract little Nathan Woessner , who was recovered unconscious and rushed to the University of Chicago Medicine 's Comer Children 's Hospital . But Tracy Koogler , medical director at the hospital 's pediatric intensive care unit , said doctors are signaling progress and possibly a full recovery . The boy is on a ventilator , she said , and is breathing at the capacity of a moderate intensive-care-unit pneumonia patient . He could have his breathing tube out later this week and could be out of the hospital in 10 days to two weeks with rehabilitation to follow , Koogler said . It 's unclear what kind of lasting health issues he may have . Authorities have said they do n't believe Nathan suffered brain damage from a lack of oxygen and there were no significant injuries to his eyes . A single air pocket in the dune may have saved his life , officials said . At present , doctors are trying to clear sand from his lungs . A family outing turned nightmare . The boy and his family had gone Friday to Mount Baldy Beach at Indiana Dunes National Park , in the northwestern corner of the state . It was a day meant to be a fun family vacation at the beach on the Lake Michigan shoreline . Pastor Don Reul , Nathan 's grandfather , said his daughter and son-in-law went with another couple and their children . The incident occurred after the fathers decided to climb Mount Baldy . Nathan and a friend followed . Then the unexpected happened : sounds of screams and a boy lost in the sand . Nathan had stepped in a sinkhole , and a friend yelled to the fathers that the child was gone , the grandfather said . The fathers frantically tried to dig him out , but the more they dug , the deeper Nathan seemed to sink in the 11-foot mound . A call for help went out immediately . Rescuers stay focused . 911 Operator : 9-1-1 . Caller : I 'm at the Mount Baldy Beach . And my friend 's son , he got stuck in the sand dune , and he 's like under the sand and they ca n't get him out . 911 Operator : OK , can anybody see him or is he completely covered by sand ? Caller : Uh , yes . My husband and his dad are trying to dig him out . Dozens of first responders rushed to the scene with shovels in hand . Heavy excavation equipment also was called in . They raced against the clock . `` There was lots and lots of guys hand digging , trying to expose him making sure nobody was going to hurt him or anything with any equipment , '' one of the rescuers , Rich Elm , told CNN affiliate WNDU . An hour went by . Then another . `` We were really losing hope fast , and we tried to just stay focused , '' Michigan City firefighter Brad Kreighbaum told CNN affiliate WSBT . `` The first two hours was complete misery . '' More than three and a half hours later , signs of life . Nathan was cold and appeared lifeless but had a heartbeat . He was trapped vertically in the sand . `` One minute you 're thinking , 'We do n't know what we 're going to have , ' and you 're thinking the worst . Then you 're hoping for the best , '' Elm said . `` Once I had a hold of his head , '' Kreighbaum said , `` I was ... just talking to him , you know , just like I would talk to my own son . '' 'Never heard of anything like this ' Park rangers do not know what caused the hole . Mount Baldy is the tallest moving sand dune in the national lakeshore , according to the National Park Service . Half-buried trees show its shifting nature . `` I 've been a park ranger here at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore since 1991 , and I 've never heard of anything like this here or at other sand dune parks , '' Park Ranger Bruce Rowe told WNDU . `` It 's baffling . '' The beach was closed Monday as authorities investigated what caused the sand to give way . Waiting for our son to wake up . CNN 's Jennifer Moore and Shawn Nottingham contributed to this report . Watch New Day weekdays at 6am-9am ET . For the latest on New Day click here .
Nathan Woessner , 6 , was visiting the northern Indiana sand dunes with family . The sand dunes , which line Lake Michigan , can sometimes give way . He said he saw a large hole in one of the dunes and then heard what sounded like thunder coming from another part of the dune.