'Christmas Miracle': Four-Year-Old Falls Into 44-Foot-Deep Water Well And Is Rescued Six Hours Later

Dec 24, 2020 by apost team

In what is now being called a Christmas miracle, a four-year-old boy was rescued six hours after he had fallen into a 44-foot deep well in Garceño, Texas, on December 8th, 2020.

Falling into a pit where you cannot get out of is scary for anybody at any age. Earlier this month on December 8th, an unnamed four-year-old boy found himself in a dire situation when he fell down a water well while walking on a ranch property with his parents in Garceño, Texas. After more than six hours inside the 44-foot deep water well, the boy emerged from the brush on a stretcher surrounded by his lifesavers.

How first responders pulled off this rescue

According to Shawn Snyder, the Fire Chief of Edinburg, Texas, the boy had fallen nine and a half feet down and that it was too dark in the hole to even see the boy. “There was only one way to extract this child, it is not back the way they came, we have to dig a hole adjacent to the original hole,” Snyder said to KRGV-TV’s Channel 5 News.

When the hole was deep enough, the rescuers started removing dirt from the exterior wall of the hole where the child was.

The Twitter account of the City of Mission, Texas said that the pit of the hole “was only eight to 10 inches in diameter,” and footage from the scene by KRGV-TV’s Channel 5 News showed a smoke-like substance as a result of pneumatic tools like air-operated hammers and rescue vacuums used by the first responders to dig the hole. The process was very fragile and painstaking. A single wrong tap or move could cause a cascade of danger.

apost.com

Robert Alvarez, the Assistant Fire Chief of Mission Fire Department, told USA TODAY that a team trained in trench rescues from his department was called to the scene.

“The soil got to a point where it turned into almost like a shell rock or rock, so shovels were not being effective anymore. We had to turn to the pneumatic tools,” said Alvarez to KRGV-TV’s Channel 5 News. He added that the biggest thing that they were trying to make sure of was that the operation was carried out safely.

“As you’re breaking stuff up the soil you have to also take it out of the hole too because if not you’re just collecting more and more dirt in there. There is always a potential of collapsing dirt wanting to return back to its original form so when you start disturbing it, it can do that,” Alvarez added.

One of the first things Chief Snyder said that his team did was to rope the child’s hands to avoid him falling deeper before they began several hours of digging. Agencies from the Texas cities of Edinburg, Mission, McAllen, and even Starr county agencies like La Rocita were present at the scene. There were bystanders that had gathered around the scene to pray, even cheering and applauding the first responders for every progress made in the rescue.

Thankfully, they got him out

Finally, after more than six hours and after midnight, the firefighters met up with the boy adding a harness, and pulled him up. He flew away in a rescue helicopter and the well was closed and filled with dirt. KRGV-TV’s Channel 5 News reported one day later on December 9th that the boy was recovering in the hospital and undergoing tests as of that morning. He was in stable condition. Chief Snyer says the rescue was possible not only because of the many tools but the dozens of first responders that showed up to help.

"Everybody pitched in. Whatever needed to be done,” Alvarez told NBC affiliate KVEO-TV. Alvarez added that “everybody was relieved,” about the fact that the boy was finally free.

A Christmas miracle

The rescue is now being called a Christmas Miracle. “The incredible moment rescuers pulled out a 4-yr-old boy that fell into a well hole in Garceño,” read a tweet by the City of Mission, Texas’ Twitter account. “So proud of our Mission firefighters & all 1st responders that rescued the child after 6 long hrs. Pit was only 8-10 inches in diameter. It's a Christmas miracle!”

Starr County Sheriff  Rene "Orta" Fuentes  took to Facebook to list and “thank all the agencies that came together in the successful rescue.” "Last night proved to be a testament of our community and neighboring communities’ unity and sincere concern for each other," Fuentes wrote. "Through prayers and actions from everyone involved, a little boy lives today." Many took to the comments section to say thank you and praised the rescuers for carrying out a successful operation. “Great teamwork from all the agencies and individuals involved! Thank you for your support and dedication to bring this child to safety! May your blessings be multiplied!” wrote one Deisy Bazan. 

Abandoned water wells pose a danger not only to people but also to small animals

According to a 2012 article by Winston-Salem Journal, abandoned water wells are often concealed by grass, brush, or collapsed buildings, making them difficult to be identified as holes that could be fallen into. Sometimes, these wells are filled with waste like tree limbs, bricks, cinder blocks, roof shingles, and trash, which contaminate and pollute the groundwater.

"You could be walking in high grass on someone's property and come across a hole in the ground," said Wilson Mize, a regional environmental health specialist for the North Carolina Division of Public Health, in 2012. He added small animals like dogs, cats, and squirrels, are known to fall into these abandoned water wells and that they leave behind their skeletal remains.

According to Cliff Treyens, the public awareness director of the National Ground Water Association of Westerville, Ohio, there is no record of the number of “abandoned private drinking water wells in the United States,” but that he estimates that number to be in the thousands.

What did you think of this story? Were you in awe at how everybody helped to get the little boy out? What surprised you the most? Tells us in the comments and be sure to pass this along to your loved ones so they can remind their children to be careful of pits while playing outside.