PORT ALICE — “It’s not really a good place to spend your time.”

That’s how Bob Bennett describes the four days he spent at the bottom of a dry well.

The 84-year-old man was attempting to locate a water source on his property at Benson Lake, where he lives alone, when he fell 12 feet into the well after stepping on the rotting, 35-year-old wooden cover.

“I thought ‘well I found the place but how the hell do I get out of it?’,” said Bennett.

Bennett was trapped in the well for four days and five nights, surviving only on water dripping out of the valves.

“I didn’t get hungry, I consistently drank water,” said Bennett. “I think it releases nervous tension.”

Bennett, who became trapped on Sat., June 20, never doubted he would make it out alive.

“I certainly believed someone would come,” said Bennett. “There’s no use crying about something, you have to look on the bright side.”

Long-time friend Barry Christenson did come looking for Bennett, after he didn’t arrive in Port Hardy that weekend as expected.

Since Bennett doesn’t have phone service, Christenson drove out to Bennett’s property Tuesday afternoon to check on his friend. Bennett’s home is located on an old mine site about a 45-km drive east of Port Alice.

When Christenson arrived, he noticed that the door to Bennett’s cabin was left unlocked, which he says is unusual for Bennett. Also strange was the pet food dish that looked like it had just been made up but hadn’t been touched and a pitcher of iced tea that had been left out and was growing mold on it.

“My first clue was that Bob wouldn’t have left like that,” said Christenson. “He’s very meticulous and the gate’s always locked.”

Christenson says those three things alerted him to the fact that something was wrong. “Tidy Bob” as his co-workers used to call him, would never leave things out of place.

Bennett’s dog Debbie, who Bennett says loyally stayed above the well keeping him company, left her owner only when Christenson stopped by.

Christenson says Debbie led him to within 15 feet of where Bennett was trapped more than once but wasn’t sure where Debbie was trying to lead him.

Just before midnight on Tues., June 23, Christenson called police to say he was concerned about his business partner and friend of 15 years.

Cpl. Terry Higginson and police dog Nick from the Courtney RCMP detachment were called in to assist North Island RCMP. Police dog Nick managed to track Bennett all the way to the bottom of the well. Bennett was rescued on June 24 alive and well aside from a few scratches but was taken to Port McNeill hospital as a precaution.

Bennett, who describes himself as an eternal optimist, says he has to count blessings.

“If I fell six inches off one way or the other, I probably would have hit one of the valves and broken a leg,” says Bennett.

Christenson says there are no words to describe how he felt when the police told him Bennett had been found alive.

“They were talking the last four hours that they were looking for a body,” said Bennett. “So it was a total surprise.

“Mr. Bennett, at 84-years-old, has shown us that age means nothing when you have the will to survive,” said Cpl. LeBrun.

Four times Bennett attempted to climb out of the well by tying his jeans to a piece of rotten board and using it as a grapple but the board kept breaking.

Bennett, who is a retired miner, settled on the North Island about 35 years ago after working odd jobs around the world. In 1958-59 Bennett was in Afghanistan paving the Kyber Pass, which connects Afghanistan and Pakistan. He also worked road jobs in Central America and as a sales rep for a mechanic shop in Alaska. He also spent time mining on Quadra Island.

“After seeing all these places I believe the North Island is paradise,” said Bennett.

Christenson says the whole ordeal is ironic because when Bennett first moved in he asked the construction crew if they should put a ladder in the well and if a steel cover would be more suitable but it was decided at the time that wood would hold up just fine.