Rescue of little girl from well called ‘Easter Miracle’
Last Update: April 18, 2022 at 1:54 pm
April 18/22
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Rescue of little girl from well called ‘Easter Miracle’
A 4-year-girl was recovering Friday from slight injuries she sustained after falling into a well while playing in the yard of a residence in Baldwin County on Thursday night.
The rescue, which took only about 15 minutes to complete from the time firefighters/first responders with Baldwin County Fire Rescue got to the scene, is being described as nothing short of a miracle.
“I’m calling this ‘The Easter Miracle,” said Baldwin County Fire Rescue Chief Victor Young.
Young said the girl, who was not immediately identified, was outside playing.
“She got up on top of a metal cover over the 40-foot well, and I think it broke, and she fell into the well, as a result,” Young said. “We’re not exactly sure how far she fell, but she didn’t fall to the bottom.”
The only thing that kept such from happening is the fact that the little girl somehow caught hold of one of the sides of the well and held herself up until firefighters solicited the assistance of one of the victim’s relatives to retrieve her.
“This man was real skinny,” Young said. “We quickly trained him, placed a rescue harness on him and lowered him down into the well.”
The man, whose name was not immediately provided by authorities, was able to grab hold of the little girl within a short period, the fire chief said.
“Firefighters then hoisted the man and little girl up the well to safety,” Young said.
After the rescue, the victim was checked for injuries by personnel with Grady Emergency Medical Services.
“When they got the little girl up, she was crying and saying she was sorry,” Young said.
The victim sustained scrapes and bruises from her fall into the well.
“She didn’t appear to have any serious injuries,” Young said.
A medical team from AirEvac later flew the little girl to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta hospital. The rescue followed a frantic call for help to a 911 dispatcher with the Baldwin County Emergency 911 Center shortly after 7 p.m.
Firefighters quickly headed to the scene from the East Baldwin County Fire Station, as well as Hardwick Fire Station.
“Our first firefighter to arrive there was Heather Johnson,” Young said. “She assessed the situation and let us know what we needed and what we were actually dealing with.”
Johnson is a full-time firefighter with the county fire department.
“She did a really fine job of letting us know what we needed to know quickly,” Young said.
Firefighters were aided by non-emergency personnel at the scene.
One of the first things firefighters did when they got to the scene was to ensure that the little girl would be safe, if she, by chance, slipped and fell into the bottom of the well. Firefighters had been told there could be as much as 10-feet of water in the bottom of the inactive well.
“We sent down a water buoy to the little girl, so she could hold on to it,” Young said. “At the time, the little girl was clinging to the side of the well.”
Young said he, along with several members of his command staff, worked together to coordinate the successful rescue of the little girl. Those members included Deputy Chief Phillip Adams, Chief Lewis Osborne and Capt. Bradley Towe.
“I can’t say enough about what everybody did to help this little girl,” Young said. “I’m grateful to God that it ended in a good way and not a tragic way.”
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