As Bruce Barry put it, he will “live to lift another day.”

The Lehighton native was forced to withdraw from the Revolution Powerlifting Syndicate Raw Dawg National Meet in Lancaster on Saturday due to a thumb injury.

“The meet didn’t go as planned,” Barry said. “My first attempt in the squat at 600 pounds was a no lift because I didn’t go deep enough. The judges were tough, but consistent and fair. I just needed to go a little deeper. On my second attempt, I pushed it too deep and lost my balance and basically fell. The spotters did a great job in grabbing the weight.

“However, I caught my right thumb in the safety straps and injured it. I couldn’t grab the bar with my thumb and I withdrew from the meet. I didn’t want to risk further injury to the thumb or cause another injury to myself or the spotters. This way, I ‘live to lift another day.’”

Barry was attemping to achieve a World Record squat of 672 pounds, which would be the highest ever in any weight class in the country, as well as a World Record squat of 707 pounds, which would be the highest squat in any weight class in the world for the 65-and-over age group.

He currently holds the World Record Equipped Squat of 635 pounds set on March 17 in the 220-pound weight class while competing in an International Powerlifting Association meet at 66 years old.