Farmer rescued after being trapped in well north of Edmonton for nearly 8 hours
CTV
A farmer north of Edmonton considers himself lucky to have survived this harvest season. That's no joke about poor weather conditions and long hours in the combine.
A farmer north of Edmonton considers himself lucky to have survived this harvest season.
That's no joke about poor weather conditions and long hours in the combine.
The evening of Sept. 26, Andy Shwetz in Waskatenau was heavy harrowing (breaking up and spreading straw on a combined field) on a quarter of land that contains a former town water well.
The well was marked. In the spring, Schwetz had filled it with rocks and clay.
But that night, when he stepped out of the tractor to assess whether he could harrow right over it, the ground fell away from his feet and he landed in about five feet of frigid, muddy water.
The situation was immediately bad: The water was up to his neck and the ground was about 14 feet above the water. His cell phone was sitting on the tractor's seat. It was dark and he had been working alone. His family were combining, but they were on another field. And, perhaps most importantly, he was expecting frost overnight. It was only 9:30 p.m.
But he found hope in having fallen feet first and not hitting his head.
