Father rescues 4-year-old son from well

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NAUGATUCK — A 4-year-old boy was rescued by his father Monday after he fell about 25 feet into an abandoned water well on Spring Street.

The boy was on top of a wooden well cover when it gave way and he fell through, Naugatuck police Lt. Robert Harrison said. The well in front of 553 Spring St., its stones rising two feet above the ground, is not used and had about 1½ feet of water at the bottom, Naugatuck Fire Capt. Jim Trzaski said.

Harrison said the well was capped with a piece of wood that was bolted to it, but the wood had rotted. The boy’s parents were nearby when he fell some 25 feet to the bottom at around 11:30 a.m.

The 911 call came in at 11:39 a.m., Trzaski said. By the time firefighters arrived three minutes later, “the father had just taken him out,” Trzaski said.

Trzaski said the father, whose name was not released, used the stones of the rock lined well, about 2 to 3 feet in diameter, as footings to lower himself down to his son, who was standing in the water. The grandfather, who was working at the home, helped lower down a rope, then pulled his son and grandson to safety.

Trzaski said the boy was wet and had a laceration on his forehead.

“He was scared but shocked. He was answering our questions,” Trzaski said.

Trzaski said the boy’s wet clothes were removed before he was treated for hypothermia and transported by Campion Ambulance to Waterbury Hospital. He was later transferred to Connecticut Children’s Medical Center for treatment of his head injury, Trzaski said.

He said the boy and his parents were visiting at 553 Spring St. The boy was in the well for about 5 to 10 minutes before being rescued.

By afternoon, the well was capped with a new board that was nailed over the opening.

Trzaski said the father could have harmed himself.