Auto driver goes to deliver couple's portrait; ends up rescuing woman from well

Kasaragod: Pappachan Konoor (55) is a go-to autorickshaw driver in Mallom, in Kasaragod’s eastern hill panchayat of Balal. Thursday evening, Elamma Ambattuparambil of Nattakkal, 2 km away, called to collect a framed photograph of her and her husband, who died three months ago, from the studio and deliver it home. It was a reminder call. He was supposed to have delivered it on Wednesday.

Around 5.15 pm, Pappachan reached Elamma's house with the photograph. She was on the phone with her neighbour's daughter. It was an SOS: Elamma's friend, Valiyaparambath Eliyamma (62), had fallen into a well.

Before Elamma could finish the call, Pappachan and her daughter ran to Eliyamma's house, barely 50 metres away. They saw Eliyamma flailing in the water, sinking and resurfacing. Her husband, Varghese Valiyaparambath, stood helplessly as their daughter cried out for help.

Pappachan knew there was no time to lose. He grabbed the rope attached to the pump and climbed down the 16-foot well.

For nearly an hour, the 5 ft 4 inch auto driver held Eliyamma above water, keeping her head from submerging as he waited for help. "The water was head-high. I could barely find my footing, and I had to keep Eliyamma's head above water," Pappachan said.

After nearly 50 minutes in the well, with help yet to arrive, Pappachan began to struggle. Seeing his plight, Moni, a manual labourer in his 60s, climbed down to help. Together, they kept Eliyamma’s head above water.

The Fire and Rescue Services team from Cheemeni, around 33 km away, reached the spot at 6.13 pm. The team lowered a netted basket and pulled Eliyamma out, followed by Pappachan and Moni, who were too exhausted to climb out on their own.

"She is in hospital now and doing fine. She did not suffer any fracture," said Senior Fire and Rescue Officer Vineesh Kumar K. "But you speak to Pappachan. He is the hero," he said.

Returned home after 10 days in hospital
Eliyamma has Alzheimer's disease and had been admitted to Kannur Government Medical College Hospital at Pariyaram for 10 days, said her neighbour Rahul Athikkal, a BSNL technician who called the Fire and Rescue Services, police and an ambulance.

“She had just returned home with her daughter, and was still in her kurta and churidar when she fell into the well. She might have forgotten about the well. The parapet was also only knee-high,” Rahul said.

Pappachan, an experienced swimmer who cleans his own well, said he did not hesitate to climb down. When he struggled to find his footing, he called out to Eliyamma's daughter to switch on the motor to pump out some water. As the water level dropped, he managed to find support along the side of the well. Keeping Eliyamma afloat, however, remained a gruelling task. "After some time, she lost consciousness. But I continued to hold her. My arms grew weak, but I held her above water," he said.

When the rescue personnel arrived, Pappachan asked them to lower the net for Moni and him, too. "I did not have the energy to climb out," he said.

The rescuers pulled both men to safety. The physical toll, Pappachan said, became apparent only afterwards. "It is only now that my body is aching," he said when Onmanorama spoke to him.

At home, Pappachan was busy with another task: spreading the wet currency notes from his wallet across his bed to dry, along with his identity cards and other documents. "I jumped in without thinking. My wallet got drenched. It had all the day's earnings. Luckily, I had left my mobile phone in the auto when I went to Elamma's house," he said.

Asked why he had not picked Elamma’s portrait on Wednesday, Pappachan said he had not forgotten; the frame was not ready at the studio. “But because of that, a life was saved,” he said.