William McKinley Simmons saved Henry H. Walters from suffocation, Pottsville, Arkansas, August 21, 1934. Walters, 35, farmer, was overcome by dynamite fumes and carbon dioxide at the bottom of a well 24 feet deep and slumped in a sitting position. A ladder 12 feet long rested on the bottom of the well. In response to a call, Simmons, 32, farmer, went to the well and was told there was gas in it. He entered a narrow opening in the cover on top of curbing that rose 30 inches above the well and put his foot through a loop in a plow line. Holding his breath, he stepped in niches of the stones lining the wall and descended to the ladder as a man at the top payed out the line. He removed his foot from the loop and descended the ladder. Breathing as little as possible, he raised Walters, put the line around him under his arms, and tied it at his back. Pushing and guiding him as Walters was pulled upward, Simmons climbed the ladder. Walters was pulled beyond his reach and to the top and was grasped and drawn through the opening. He revived within an hour but suffered from the effects of the gas for three days. Simmons was somewhat affected but recovered in an hour.
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