The 7-year-old girl who fell 45 feet to the bottom of a well broke her legs, an arm, her hip and bones in her face, her family said.
But Megan Winters’ spirit isn’t broken, her mother told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution late Tuesday.
“She’s still my feisty one,” Melissa Winters said. “She’s still bossing me around.”
Megan has a long recovery ahead of her as she heals from the fall Monday afternoon. But doctors are optimistic the second-grader will again be the active little girl that enjoys playing soccer and designing her own dresses.
“They really expect a full recovery,” Melissa Winters said.
Megan was playing outside her grandmothers’ Carroll County home with her little sister when she fell into the well, estimated at 40 to 50 feet deep, Monday afternoon. Megan, who attends Brooks Elementary School in Coweta County, likely fell feet first, resulting in her broken legs, her mother said.
But her small body was twisted in a way that made the rescue time-consuming for Carroll County firefighters called to the home on Ivey Road, near Whitesburg. After more than an hour, firefighters pulled the girl from the well using ropes and pulleys.
Lt. Clay Kierbow, the firefighter who was lowered into the well to get the girl, said she had fallen in an awkward position.
“It took … a while to get her maneuvered around where we could get her out,” he told Channel 2 Action News, “and once we got her up, (we) tied a rigging system to her and pulled her up and me right behind her.”
Megan was flown to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, where she underwent surgery on her legs late Monday and remained Tuesday. Her family isn’t sure how long she’ll be hospitalized.
Megan isn’t the only family member hospitalized after the ordeal Monday. Melissa Winters said her mother had a stress-inducted heart attack, but is recovering at a Carroll County hospital. She is also expected to recover.
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