The Kemp chief of police texted for help after he fell into a well Tuesday morning, officials say.
Chief Jimmy Council was responding to a call about loose cattle and was helping to get them back into a pasture when he fell about 20 feet into a well along Farm-to-Market Road 2860, officials said.
City Secretary Allene Gilmore received a text from Council at about 9:15 a.m. that said he needed to be rescued.
The text said, "Call 911. I fell in a well full of water."
Council said he texted because he couldn't get a call to go through.
Officials arrived at the scene and, after about a half an hour, pulled Council out of the hole.
Council said on Facebook later Tuesday that he was "so glad this ended up a rescue and not a recovery of my body."
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"I am very sore and at home and will recover," he said. "God is good. Thanks to all."
One of the first people to arrive lowered a dog leash to Council to hold onto until more help could arrive, Kaufman County sheriff's Lt. Justin Lewis said.
The key piece of rescue equipment used to get him out of the well was a large metal tripod that used a pulley to lower a cable with an attached harness into the well.
"I think he was ready to get out," Kemp Fire Chief Bryan Beavers said. "He was hurting a little bit, but he was ready to get out of the water."
Council was taken to Kaufman Presbyterian with only minor injuries, officials said.
Beavers said there are several uncovered, abandoned wells like the one Council fell into in the Kemp area.
"I would advise everybody to watch where they walk," he said.
Council, who has been police chief since Jan. 9, said doctors gave him several stitches in his arm. He also said that he has to see an orthopedic specialist in Dallas on Wednesday.
Beavers said that members of his fire department, as well as firefighters from Kaufman and Mabank, officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Kaufman County Sheriff's Office, the Kaufman County Fire Marshal's Office, the Kaufman County constable offices in Precincts 4 and 1 and the Mabank Police Department, participated in the rescue.
