Man suffers heart attack, hypothermia and multiple broken bones in freak 'one in a million' accident

A man who survived the unthinkable has revealed he 'thought my time was up' after falling 50ft, breaking bones and shattering his back.

Jonno Stubbs, 61, suffered a heart attack, hypothermia and a series of broken bones on 1 February during a freak 'one in 100 million' accident that had him sitting in the cold and dark for two and a half hours before help could arrive in Cheadle, Staffordshire.

Jonno, a JCB forklift driver, had been building an outdoor storeroom outside of his home when paving gave way beneath him in his courtyard.

"I just walked across the yard and the next thing I knew, I was dropping down this hole," he said. “The sandstone and flint had been covering the well for a couple of hundred years.

Jonno fell through the manhole into 5ft of freezing water, shattering his back and foot on the way down.

Jonno Stubbs fell 50 ft and was saved by the fire service (SWNS)

As it turned out, Jonno had fallen through a paved 18th century well.

The dad-of-two now needs to use a wheelchair and crutches and suffers from PTSD following the ordeal, as well as fears of manholes.

Jonno revealed of his terrifying experience: "I thought my time was up. I genuinely thought, ‘This is where I die.’

He went on to say it was a 'sandstone and flint' covering that had been blocking up the 'well for a couple of hundred years' until the 1700s paving 'eroded and eventually gave way beneath me'.

Jonno recalled a 'big splash' when he landed in the 'freezing cold water and shattered my foot.'

From there, alone and in the dark, Jonno explained he attempted to call emergency services to help him, but because of the distance he fell, the signal wasn't clear, and the emergency services 'could barely understand what I was saying.'

Thankfully, his brother-in-law, Danny, 'heard my muffled shouts' approximately ten to 15 minutes later.

"He followed the sound, looked over the edge and realised I was down the well," recalled Jonno. “I told him, ‘ring the fire brigade, an ambulance, everyone. I’ve badly injured my foot and leg'.”

However, it wouldn't be a fast turnaround because when Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service attended the scene, they realised they didn't have the equipment needed to hoist him out, and so Jonno had to wait another 50 minutes for another service to arrive.

The well had been covered by sandstone for hundreds of years (SWNS)

He said it left him trapped for a total of 'two-and-a-half hours' and multiple attempts had to be done because the unstable ground made things tricky.

When he was brought to the surface, it was found that the damage done to Jonno's body was substantial and the wait left him with hypothermia.

“Later I learned I’d broken my back in four places as well as suffering serious injuries to my foot and ankle," he revealed.

“After I was rescued and taken to hospital, my body went into shock and I suffered a heart attack," he explained. “I spent three weeks in hospital and three months confined to bed. There was a chance I might never walk properly again. I shattered my heel, dislocated my ankle and broke my back in four places."

With a '50/50' chance of never walking again, Jonno said the impact has stayed with him.

“I still struggle with nightmares, flashbacks and PTSD. Even seeing manhole covers can trigger memories of what happened," said Jonno. “I’m still on crutches, sometimes using a wheelchair, but I’m a fighter and I’m not going to let this beat me.”