The Latest: Man has two broken legs after fall into mine shaft

The Latest (all times local):

4 p.m.

The head of the Maricopa County Sheriff Office’s volunteer Mountain Rescue Posse says a man the group pulled from an old abandoned mine shaft is lucky to be alive.

Operations Commander Roger Yensen said Thursday John Waddell is a “very fortunate individual” after being lifted to safety following his fall to the bottom of 100-foot shaft in a town outside Phoenix.

Waddell’s friend called the sheriff’s office after heard him calling for help on Wednesday, two days after he fell to the bottom while descending with a rope.

Waddell was undergoing surgery for two broken legs at a Phoenix hospital on Thursday.

1:20 p.m.

A hospital spokeswoman says a man who fell into an old abandoned mine shaft in Arizona is in good condition awaiting surgery for two broken legs.

Alexis Kramer-Ainza of Banner University Medical Center Phoenix says John Waddell will undergo an operation later Thursday.

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office earlier reported Waddell’s Wednesday rescue from the 100-foot (30-meter) shaft in the town of Aguila, about 90 miles (144 kilometers) northwest of Phoenix.

Sheriff’s officials say the man fell into the shaft Monday and was found two days later by someone who heard his calls for help. They say a medic was lowered in to treat the man before lifting him out of the shaft on a metal gurney.

It’s unclear how the man fell into the shaft.