A Greater Victoria resident was rescued on Thursday afternoon, after falling into a sump pump well filling up with water in the 2800-block of Lansdowne Road.
Gord Marshall, assistant fire chief with the Oak Bay Fire Department, explained the man had dropped his phone into the four-foot-deep well after removing the sump pump to service it.
Marshall says the man thought he could reach his phone, and slid even further into the well but ended up getting stuck under a pipe that fills the well with storm or excess water, leaving his head just above the waterline.
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“He was lucky enough to reach his phone and called his family, who were able to notify [us],” says Marshall, adding that the man had been calling out but no one was close enough to hear him.
Oak Bay Police Const. Sheri Lucas, who was first on the scene, was able to hold the man’s head out of the water that was gathering in the well until firefighters could arrive.
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“We pulled her out of the hole,” says Marshall. “And with the assistance from a Saanich police officer, we were able to twist him around to get him out from under the pipe and hoisted him feet first out of the hole.”
According to Marshall the man was shaken, cold and anxious when he was pulled out but did not have any injuries, although B.C. Emergency Health Services did attend.
“It was a great save … all the emergency crews came together on this one.”
Man was trapped in pump tank that was filling up on Lansdowne. #OakBay PD's Cst. Sheri Lucas arrived, jumped in hole & held his head up to enable breathing. @OakBayFireDept & @SaanichPolice arrived, pulled her out & then yanked victim out. He's now fine. Everyone is ok. pic.twitter.com/Pr1hOMJRHT
— Oak Bay Police (@OakBayPolice) January 23, 2020
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