A freak accident left Jonno Stubbs, 61, trapped in a well at his property in Cheadle, Staffordshire, in February 2026. The fall left him with a broken back and foot, and he spent three weeks in hospital. During the rescue, firefighter Jack Gaskell, of Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service’s specialist Technical Rescue Unit, was lowered into the well to reach him and bring him to safety. Months later, Stubbs set out to find the firefighter who had helped save his life. On Monday, 14 September, the two met again at Knutsford Fire Station.
How a 30-foot fall into a freezing well left Jonno Stubbs with a broken back and foot
Stubbs was building a workshop for his motorcycles on February 1, 2026, when the accident happened. He told the BBC he had simply walked across his yard when the paved ground gave way and he dropped into an 18th-century well. “There was a big splash,” he said. He puts the fall at 50 feet, though Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service described it as 30 feet on the day.Emergency services were called at about 8:40am. Three Staffordshire crews attended, along with a technical rescue unit from neighbouring Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service. Early statements from the ambulance service described only minor injuries, but Stubbs had broken his back and foot and was treated for hypothermia. He feared he would not survive.
How firefighter Jack Gaskell helped rescue him
The depth and confined space of the well meant specialist rescuers were needed. Gaskell, called in to assist Staffordshire’s crews, first lowered a life jacket and a two-way radio to Stubbs. Stubbs recalls telling him over the radio that he was fading and had to be got out. The next thing he remembers is Gaskell beside him saying they were getting him out.Gaskell had been lowered on a rope attached to a triangular metal frame. Once beside Stubbs, he reassured him and fitted him with a rescue harness so he could be winched to the surface. Stubbs was brought out at about 10:35am, almost two hours after the alarm was raised, and assessed by ambulance crews at the scene.
Three weeks in hospital and a difficult recovery
Stubbs spent three weeks in hospital. He described the recovery to the BBC as “awful,” affecting him mentally as well as physically, and he faces a long road back. He is a JCB fork-lift truck driver.Stubbs spent months trying to find Gaskell so he could thank him in person. He arranged the meeting at Knutsford Fire Station, where, alongside Becci Fisher, he also met the wider crew. “If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be sitting here today,” he said. He described the reunion as giving him “a little bit of closure.”Gaskell said that in 22 years in the fire service, no one he had rescued had ever reached out to find him. Being contacted, he said, meant a great deal. “We do this job to help people,” he added, but you rarely get the chance to see someone afterwards.
A rescue that led to an unexpected friendship
In February, Gaskell had been lowered into a well to reach a seriously injured man. In September, he met that man again outside an emergency and saw how far he had come. For Stubbs, finding his rescuer was a way to thank the people who had got him through one of the most frightening experiences of his life.
