A Potrero man clings to life after falling into a 35-foot home well.
It took crews nearly two and a half hours to rescue Jerry Fowler from inside a well filling with water Sunday.
Fowler's wife, Jessica, told NBC 7 San Diego he is not doing well with numerous broken bones and brain swelling. However, she, like many others, believes he will pull through.
"Can he move his legs, we don't know,” she said. “He moved his hand this morning. He did squeeze my hand, he did move his arm."
Her husband of three years is unconscious with fractures in his face and his back. He needed a second surgery Monday to stop bleeding in his stomach.
"They can't really do anything until they know what the brain, the swelling in the brain, until they have it under control,” Jessica Fowler said.
The fact that Jerry is even alive could be considered a miracle.
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He and his father were working to replace a pipe at the family’s home on Potrero Circle when the concrete inside the well gave out.
“The well has been there how many years, I don't know. Why it gave out all of a sudden I don't know,” Jessica said.
For two hours, Jerry was at the bottom the water well.
At one point, rescue crews had to drop a pump down into the well for fear the ground water would rise and possibly drown him.
The scene was hard for her to watch and seeing her husband so seriously injured is very difficult.
But she holds on to hope and has to stay strong for their 13-year old son.
"What can I do? There is nothing I can do. With my son around I don't cry because I don't want him to lose it because he will lose it,” she said.
Jessica says they are not sure how long Jerry will be in the hospital. It could be weeks even months before he is released.
