SMOKY LAKE – A farmer from Smoky Lake County hopes to bring awareness about the potential dangers of old farmyard wells, following his own cautionary tale.
In late September, as he was tending to his farm near Waskatenau, Andy Shwetz had taken on the task of harrowing a quarter of land that included a former water well. He had, in fact, marked the well and filled it with rocks and clay in the spring, thinking it was secured.
He came up to check up on the well to see if he could harrow over top of it so he could blend it in with the rest of the field, exiting his tractor and leaving his phone on the seat of the tractor.
9:30 P.M.
As he took a step out of the tractor, the ground collapsed beneath him, and Andy fell into approximately five feet of icy, murky water. It was 9:30 p.m.
With the water up to his neck, the main issue, according to Andy, was the cold. “I was worried about freezing to death... so, when I first got in, I didn’t really panic. I had a plan,” he said.
For over an hour, Andy tried to climb up repeatedly and failed. He almost climbed to the top of the well, but his body was growing weak. The cold was getting to him. And the more he tried, the more he was losing his strength.
That’s when the panic started to settle in. Slowly, “I came face to face with the fact that I didn’t know if I was going to survive the night,” he said. He pushed the thoughts away and worked to get "over that mindset.”
He hoped that if he could remain warm enough and survive until the morning, someone would be able to come and get him.
For what felt like forever, he waited. It was a cold night and temperatures dipped to about minus five degrees Celsius. Every minute felt like an hour.
“I had no sense of time... I was basically hyperventilating the whole time,” he said. But he never lost hope.
3 A.M.
Shawnalee Shwetz, Andy’s wife, woke up around 3 a.m., noticing her husband was nowhere to be found. She checked the couch, where he sometimes fell asleep.
Then she went out to the yard and noticed his truck and equipment were also missing. “I went down to the field, and [saw] the tractor was running,” said Shawnalee. The door to the tractor was open, and his cellphone was on the seat.
But she couldn’t find him. She yelled, but there was no response. She couldn’t hear him. She looked and looked, from one field to another, trying to figure out where her husband might have gone. She could not find him.
An hour later, she sought help from her nephew and a neighbour.
It was approximately another hour later when they finally found him.
“We found him at 5:08 [a.m.],” said Shawnalee, adding it was a great relief for her.
A month later
Over a month has passed since then, and Andy is on the path to recovery. He recalled being treated with antibiotics at the hospital for rhabdomyolysis, a serious medical condition that can be fatal and may result in permanent disability.
“Rhabdo occurs when damaged muscle tissue releases its proteins and electrolytes into the blood. These substances can damage the heart and kidneys and cause permanent disability or even death,” according to information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
And while he is still recovering, Andy reports that he is close to being healed up.
Shawnalee affirmed, noting Andy’s feet are not fully healed, “But he’s pretty much back to normal.”
The couple is thankful for all the support they’ve received from their neighbours, friends and families. “Everybody’s been helping out, just the generosity... it’s amazing,” said Shawnalee.
Andy concluded by asking the public and other farmers to be aware of old wells located in old farmyards.
“I want them to have the conversation with their families that these wells are out here... because the biggest thing is people need to be aware of these things,” he said.
Shawnalee agreed, adding that even if people may be aware of the presence of old wells, heavy water flow may cause their exposure, thus the importance of remaining vigilant of their locations.
A database of wells can be found at the Government of Alberta website: Alberta Water Well Information Database
