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11-year-old boy survives 140-foot fall into well

Rachel Stoltzfoos Staff Reporter
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An 11-year-old boy survived a 140-foot fall into a well in near freezing temperatures Tuesday night, The Greenville News reports.

Two friends were investigating an abandoned house in Greer, S.C., when they started jumping up and down on a board on the back porch. The board gave way, leaving one boy to watch as the other dropped about 140 feet into water up to his shoulders.

After the boy found a neighbor to call 911 and tried to rescue the other boy, firefighters and police arrived. It took more than 40 minutes for firefighters to reach the boy, clip him into a harness and pull him out of the well.

They had to add rope three times and switch out firefighters when the first became numb and couldn’t maneuver his arms.

The boy remained conscious the entire time and was transported to the hospital by helicopter nearly two hours after the fall. He suffered from hypothermia and had a compound fracture on his arm and is recovering.

Lt. Tim Ridgeway, of the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office, told reporters it was “remarkable” the boy survived.

“The board collapsed and he might have rode the board down as he fell so that might have cushioned it a little bit or just slowed him somewhat,” said Ridgeway.

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