http://www2.arkansasonline.com/news/200 ... -out-well/
DODDRIDGE — A 7-year-old boy who fell into an abandoned water well in southwest Arkansas was rescued by a cowboy from a nearby ranch who used a lariat to lift the boy to safety.
Miller County authorities told the Texarkana Gazette that Reed Nations lassoed the boy out of the well Tuesday morning before the rescuers summoned by the boy’s grandmother could arrive.
The boy, Jonathan Easter, was helping an aunt clear brush at an old house near Doddridge when he fell 20 to 30 feet down the well, which had sand walls.
Family members could not get Jonathan out and they called for help at about 8:15 a.m. About five minutes later, the family called back to say the boy was safe and had only a cut on an arm, according to an incident report by Miller County sheriff’s deputy Alan Keller.
The family didn’t know the rescuer’s name, though neighbors told them it was Nations, who works on the Greg Williams Ranch in southern Miller County. The report says Nations retrieved the rope from his vehicle.
Arkansas State Police Sgt. John Bishop confirmed Nations rescued the boy, and described Nations as modest.
“After three tries he was able to put the rope around the boy and pull him out of the well. He is a cowboy and doesn’t want the notoriety,” Bishop said.
The Doddridge Volunteer Fire Department covered the well and told the landowner to keep the well sealed.
Nations did not return phone calls from the Gazette for comment about the rescue.
Doddridge is about four miles from the Louisiana border and about 25 miles south of Texarkana.
