Man rescued after falling in Cobb County well while searching for phone

AUSTELL, Ga. - Cobb County emergency crews successfully retrieved a man who fell 50 feet down a well while looking for his cell phone late Thursday night.

The rescue operation happened in the woods on Hartman Road near Factory Shoals Road in Austell.

Lt. Steve Bennett of Cobb County Fire and Emergency Services said their rescue operation began around 10 p.m. Thursday when the man's son called police saying that his dad was missing.

The son said his father had lost his phone earlier that day in the same woods, went back to search for it, and never came home.

Officers found the man's vehicle at the scene and heard his phone in the woods. While searching, one officer heard the man screaming and found him at the bottom of the 50-foot-deep well.

A firefighter was lowered down into the well and was able to secure the man and help crews get him out safely. 

FOX 5 cameras saw the moment Cobb County police officers and firefighters were able to take the man out of the woods on a stretcher. 

While the extent of the man's injuries is unknown, Bennett said the man was alert and is expected to survive the ordeal.

"At night in the darkness, if you don't have a good flashlight it is very easy to accidentally find a hole, fall down a slope. You know, the woods are not kind if you don't have a flashlight," Bennett said.

The man has now been taken to a local hospital for treatment.

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