Maisy bolted out an open door on Sunday night and disappeared into the overgrown bamboo behind her family’s Anderson County home.
For almost an hour, nobody knew where she was. Then her dad remembered the well.
What Happened in the Bamboo
Cheyanne Miller’s father recalled the old abandoned well hidden in the bamboo on their property. That’s when the family called 911.
Anderson County and West Pelzer Fire Department crews responded and found Maisy at the bottom, 50 feet down.
“She was mostly underwater and then her head was just resting on the side,” Miller said. “As soon as I started talking to her, she started wagging her tail.”
Ninety Minutes to Get Her Out
The rescue took roughly an hour and a half. Miller said her first thought when she saw Maisy down there was that they might only be retrieving a body.
When Maisy came out, her injuries were limited to a torn toenail, a bruised hip, and an infected cut remarkably minor for a 50-foot fall.
Water emergencies don’t give anyone much time. When two dogs fell into a Tempe canal with no way to climb out, officers had the same margin minutes, not hours.
The Well Nobody Sealed
As Fox Carolina reported on Maisy’s rescue and the broader SC abandoned well problem, the well had been sitting there, covered only by bamboo, since before the Miller family moved in more than a decade ago.
It now has a temporary cover. A permanent fix means finding a way to seal a well the family says is too deep to simply fill.
A State Problem With No Fix Yet
Fox Carolina Investigates has tracked this issue for more than a year. In 2021, a contractor fell through the floor of a Gaffney home into a well and was seriously hurt. In 2023, an Oconee County woman died after falling through floorboards into a well hidden for 40 years.
A state bill that would have required sellers to disclose known wells died in committee. The issue remains unaddressed at the legislative level.
How to Check Your Property
The American Ground Water Trust defines an abandoned well as one whose use has been permanently discontinued.
First responders say signs of a hidden well include pipes sticking out of the ground, depressions in the earth, concrete vaults or pits, small structures that may have been a well house, and out-of-use windmills.
Walk your property. Check your crawl space. Older homes were often built directly over their original water source.
Why This Matters
Experts estimate more than 100,000 water wells exist across South Carolina, and nobody knows how many were abandoned without being properly sealed.
Most property owners don’t know what’s on their land. Most abandoned wells give no visible sign until something or someone falls in.
Hidden hazards inside a home are just as dangerous. When a fire broke out in a Hebron home with no people present, it was a neighbor noticing something wrong that saved four cats the same kind of attention that matters here.
Maisy’s story echoes others where seconds made the difference. Bear, a golden retriever from Illinois, survived three days near a flooded river after being hit by two cars — found because his family refused to stop searching.
Maisy survived because her family found her in time and firefighters worked fast. The well is still there, temporarily covered, on a property where a family lives.
Key Takeaways
- Maisy fell 50 feet into an abandoned well in Anderson County on Sunday night.
- Anderson County and West Pelzer firefighters rescued her in roughly 90 minutes.
- Her injuries were limited to a torn toenail, a bruised hip, and an infected cut.
- The well had been covered only by bamboo for more than a decade.
- Over 100,000 wells may exist across SC with no law requiring sellers to disclose them.
She Wagged Her Tail From 50 Feet Down
That’s the part Miller can’t stop thinking about. Maisy was mostly underwater, barely holding on, and still wagging when she heard her owner’s voice.
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. Details are based on public reports and may change.