The fire department in Gaffney, South Carolina was able to rescue a teenager who fell 40 ft (12.2 metres) into a well.
The agency wrote in a Facebook post that they were called upon to help a 14-year-old who was treading water and holding onto pipes at the bottom to stay above the water.
A training officer said the teenager had jumped on the lid of the well, which had broken and the teenager had fallen into the cement shaft.
Firefighters were able to speak to the teen as the rescue effort was being set up.
A firefighter was lowered into the well and managed to rescue the teen from below. While the 14-year-old was taken to hospital, the agency said his injuries didn’t appear to be life-threatening.
The incident took place on Saturday 7 May as firefighters were called to the scene at 7.57pm and the teen was rescued soon after at 8.24pm.
“Our firefighters train often for these scenarios, that are not routine but they do happen. We’re proud of the professionalism [shown] by our crews,” the department said on Facebook.
Doug Bowers of the Gaffney Fire Department wrote on Facebook that it was the third occasion in his time at the agency that they have been sent out to rescue someone from a well.
He wrote that the teenager was “clinging to the pump conduit trying to keep his head above water. Crews quickly put the aerial ladder in position over the shaft, built a lowering system with rope, and lowered a firefighter into the shaft”.
“Once at the water level, the firefighter grabbed onto the child” and they “were hauled back up the well shaft where the child was turned over to EMS and transported ... for treatment at the hospital”, he added.
