As the late afternoon sun beat down on his farm, Brandon finished feeding his cows, his two sons, Louie, 6, and Everett, 3, tagging along.

As they headed for the house, the two boys ran ahead of their father. Louie paused at a water spigot (水龙头) above an old well to relieve his thirst. Unluckily, the board covering the well failed to support his weight and Louie fell into the well. Brandon had just closed the gate when he turned around and saw only his younger son.

“Where’s Louie?” he shouted. "He fell in the hole!" Everett said.

Brandon, 37, quickly realized what had happened. Noooo! he thought. Louie can barely swim!

Instinctively, he jumped in. As he fell some 70 feet down the 24-inch-wide brick-lined well, Brandon heard Louie screaming. A moment later, Brandon hit the freezing water at the bottom of the well. He popped his head out of the water and grabbed Louie, who was panicked. Brandon lifted his son onto his chest as he tried to stay afloat in the water that was too deep for either of them to stand. Looking around, Brandon quickly realized there was only one way out. Looking up to see Everett peering down at them from the top of the well, Brandon shouted, “Everett, you’re going to have to be a big boy and save us. Run to the road and stand by the mailbox until someone stops. Tell them we need help.”

Everett did as he was told.

Five minutes. Ten minutes. Minutes passed like hours as Brandon, holding his shivering (颤抖的) son, continued to arch his back and brace his shoulders and legs against the well’s brick walls. Finally, Everett's face appeared above the well.

“Everett, did you get some help?”

“No.”

Brandon’s heart sank. “That’s OK, honey. But you have to go back out to the road and get someone to stop. OK, Everett?”

“OK, Daddy.”

Fifteen minutes later, the boy noticed two farmers driving by.

Fortunately, they were both fine except for some scratches.