Florida man climbs down 30-foot well ‘to say that he did it,' but gets trapped

DELAND, Fla. (FOX 35 WOFL) - Authorities say they've rescued a man who got stuck after climbing into a 30-feet deep well in DeLand just "to say he did it."

Volusia County Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Scott Smoak said the man, 18-year-old Hunter Gurney, was stuck for about an hour early Wednesday, before being pulled to safety. He says Gurney suffered a few bumps and bruises.  Friend, Andrew Harrington said they were just having fun.

"The adventurous side of me decided to get in, so I went down and climbed in came out and everything was fine. Hunter wanted to go in, so he climbed in and ended up not being able to get back out," Harrington says.  "It was definitely a first, something I don’t want to do again.  He was freaking out about the spiders. He doesn’t like spiders!"

Chief Smoak says the well is one of many in the area, and it needs a barrier around it to "keep people from going down in these things."