A woman has been rescued from a well after attempting to retrieve her cat, which had fallen in earlier.

Key points:

  • A woman climbed down an eight-meter-deep well to rescue her cat
  • The cat managed to get itself out once the woman was inside the well
  • MFS crews rescued the woman just before 11am

The woman climbed into the eight-metre-deep well at a private property on Penrith Avenue in Gawler West to rescue her pet this morning. 

But then she was then unable to pull herself out. 

Her mother, Laurel, said the cat ‘Comet’ had been missing for a few days before they realised he was inside the well. 

“We tried all day yesterday, [we] couldn’t get him up,” she said. 

“This morning my daughter said ‘rig me up, I’m going to go down’ — bless her, she’s braver than I am.” 

Laurel said they used a harness to slowly lower her daughter into the well where she found Comet inside, uninjured.

“She goes down, gets the cat — he’s fine, the little sod — and then we had issues getting her up,” she said. 

She said they managed to lift Comet out of the well inside a large zip-up shopping bag, but then her daughter was unable to get herself out. 

“There was an old rope ladder, but it just wasn’t sufficient for her to come back up again,” Laurel said. 

“We tried to get her up, but the rope snapped and we just thought no, this too dangerous.” 

The well was covered over with wood after the incident.(ABC News: Gladys Serugga)

Emergency crews were called to the historic property, known as Para Para Mansion, just after 9.30am and rescued the woman just before 11am.

“We don’t like calling on emergency services because they are so strapped as it is, it’s not fair when there’s other people who’ve got greater need but … we thought we don’t have a choice,” Laurel said. 

“Those guys have done an amazing, heroic job.” 

The family says Comet is an ‘adventurous’ cat.(Supplied)

Earlier, the MFS said the cat had freed itself. 

Laurel said her daughter was safe and well, but embarrassed by the attention the incident had attracted. 

She said she was not concerned for her daughter’s safety at any point. 

“I knew she was OK … I knew there wasn’t any danger, it wasn’t like there was a pit full of snakes or anything. I was confident that she was in safe hands,” Laurel said. 

MFS Commander Stuart Dawes said crews were happy to assist. 

“The casualty had been in the well for some time prior to our arrival,” he said. 

“Our local crew from Gawler arrived within five minutes and made a risk assessment … the [woman] was uninjured and happy enough. 

“Our crews then affected a slow, safe and steady rescue using our specialist tech rescue equipment. 

Posted , updated