Man helping friend move falls through Conn. home’s floor into well

GUILFORD, Conn. (WTIC/CNN) - A Connecticut doctor helping a friend move into a new home had to be rescued when he fell through the floor into a deep, uncapped well.

Dr. Christopher Town and his wife, Angie, were helping their friend Diane Martin move into a home built in the 1840s Sunday afternoon in Guilford, Connecticut. Town was tasked with setting up a bed in a room that’s part of the house which had been added roughly 40 years ago.

"So, I hear a crack and looked down, and the floor is giving way underneath me. Then, I'm falling, and I'm falling," Town said.

Town fell 20 to 25 feet into an uncapped well that was covered by hardwood flooring but no subfloor. The water in the well was roughly seven feet deep. He had to tread water and hold onto the stone wall to stay afloat, according to the Guilford Fire Department.

“And I’m thinking ‘How the hell am I going to get out of here?’” Town said.

Fortunately, Town’s wife saw him disappear, and she called 911.

Firefighters responded and lowered a life jacket and life safety rope, so Town didn’t go under water before they could rescue him. They lowered a firefighter in a harness using the rope and lifted Town out of the well.

"The fire department were incredibly professional. They did a wonderful job and saved my life, basically. It's not a certainty that I would've died down there, but I was getting more and more hypothermic," Town said.

Fortunately, Town suffered only very minor injuries.

The fire department temporarily made the well and cistern area safe, so nobody falls in it again. The property owner has contracted with a company to permanently secure the well, which is the water supply for the home.