Sewer Maintenance Worker Rescued After Falling 20–25 Feet Down Well In Kentucky

A worker conducting sewer maintenance in Kentucky was rescued last week after falling 20–25 feet down a well, officials said.

Anchorage Middletown Fire and EMS responded at around 11:36 a.m. on Thursday, June 4, to a report of a person trapped in a well on the 11000 block of Cox Avenue in East Louisville. They arrived to find a sanitation truck driver who had called 911 after discovering the woman in the well.

The woman, a Metropolitan Sewer District worker, had been performing preventative maintenance in a sewer pumping station when she fell, the fire department said.

“After a while, I heard a sound, and I couldn’t tell where it was coming from because there were, like, bushes around this well,” sanitation worker Keith Ware told WLKY. But when he heard someone shouting for help, he went through the bushes and found the well.

”She was very excited to see me,” Ware told the outlet. “So I got on my phone, called my dispatcher, let her know where I was, and, you know, then she sent the EMS, fire department, everybody.”

A video shared by the fire department shows crews using a tripod rope system placed over the well to lower a rescuer down to the victim in order to strap her into a harness. She was then hoisted to safety and treated at the scene by AMFEMS Medic Units. She was transported to University of Louisville Hospital for observation but “appeared physically unharmed,” the fire department said.

“Much credit and thanks to the sanitation truck driver for his awareness and calling 911,” the fire department said. “His actions no doubt contributed to a successful outcome.”