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GUILFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut man wasn't wishing at this well.
Christopher Town was helping a friend move into a mid-19th century home in Guilford on Sunday when he fell through a floor and landed 20 feet (6 meters) down in a well that had been covered up by an addition years ago. He ended up completely submerged and had to climb a bit to keep his head above water, but suffered only bruises and soreness.
“So, I hear a crack and I looked down and the floor is giving way underneath me and then I’m falling, and I’m falling,” Town told WTIC-TV. "And I’m thinking, ‘How the hell am I gonna get out of here?'"
His wife, Angela, was there and called 911.
Responding firefighters threw a life jacket down to Christopher Town and set up rigging to lower one of them into the well. They pulled him out of the well about 25 minutes after he fell in. He was taken to a hospital as a precaution, but was released a few hours later.
“When you are in a situation like that when you don’t have control, it is good to know that the other people who are there in fact have control and know what they are doing,” Town said. “They saved my life.”
Firefighters secured the well opening. Town officials said the property owner, William Butterly, will have to have it properly capped. No one answered a phone listing for Butterly on Wednesday. The Towns' friend is renting the home.
The house was built in the early 1840s and local officials believe the well was outside the home at the time. It was covered by an addition in 1981, authorities said in a Facebook post.
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