SC Firefighters Rescue Teen from 40-Foot Well

May 9, 2022
Gaffney firefighters rescued a 14-year-old male who fell into a narrow 40-foot well.

A 14-year-old stuck 40 feet down a well managed to keep himself above water until rescuers could get to him in South Carolina.

Firefighters responded just before 8 p.m. Saturday, May 7, to reports that someone had fallen into a well off Pacolet Highway in Gaffney, according to a Facebook post from the Gaffney City Fire Department.

They arrived to find the 14-year-old had plunged about 40 feet down the well, the fire department said.

Crews made “voice contact” with the teen, who was treading water and clinging to pipes in the well to keep himself from going under the water, officials said.

A firefighter was then lowered down to where the teen was and pulled him from the well “without incident” at about 8:24 p.m., according to the fire department. Officials did not say how the 14-year-old fell in.

The teen was taken to a hospital with what seemed to be non-life-threatening injuries, officials said.

“Our firefighters train often for these scenarios, that are not routine but they do happen. We’re proud of the professionalism showed by our crews,” the department wrote on Facebook.

Gaffney is about 50 miles northeast of Greenville.

©2022 The Charlotte Observer. Visit charlotteobserver.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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