Wheal Mary Ann Footway Shaft Rescue

Date	13 November 2007
Mine	Wheal Mary Ann
Region	Cornwall
Primary type	Collapse / Roof Fall
Associated types	Entrapment, Rescue
Fatalities	0 (No fatalities; the trapped volunteer sustained a pelvis fractured in two places.)
Injuries	One volunteer hospitalised with a pelvis fractured in two places; three weeks in hospital followed by a further three weeks recovering at home.
Context	Post-closure — exploration/recreational (Occurred during the volunteer group's long-running project (2003-2012) to clear the mine's old Footway Shaft, not during the mine's working life.)
Status	Researched

A volunteer clearing the Footway Shaft at the disused Wheal Mary Ann (recorded in the Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service's own report as 'St Mary's Lead Works') was trapped chest-deep when part of a drainage trench collapsed on him, triggering a rescue involving Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service, paramedics, an RAF Sea King helicopter and the Cornwall Air Ambulance.

Cause

A section of drainage trench, being dug alongside the Footway Shaft to help drain the adit below, collapsed and trapped a volunteer up to his chest while he and others were laying new drainage pipe as part of the shaft-clearance project.

What happened

The trench, part of the volunteer group's long-running effort to dig out and drain Wheal Mary Ann's Footway Shaft, gave way while pipework was being laid, trapping one man up to his chest. Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service's own account records two appliances from Liskeard, a Rescue Tender from Bodmin and an Operational Support Unit from St Austell attending a trench 25-30ft deep with rising water; the trapped man's own account describes a wait for four fire engines, paramedics, police, an air ambulance and an RAF Sea King helicopter from RAF Chivenor.

Rescue & recovery

Fire crews secured the sides of the trench while paramedics worked to free and stabilise the casualty. He was then winched out by the RAF Sea King and flown by the Cornwall Air Ambulance to Derriford Hospital, where a fractured pelvis was diagnosed; he spent three weeks in hospital and a further three weeks recovering at home before being confirmed, at a follow-up X-ray around New Year, to be healing normally.

This account describes a post-closure incident in abandoned workings. It is not an access guide, and deliberately omits route detail beyond what's needed to understand what happened.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service's own news record dates the incident to 13 November 2007 at 'St Mary's Lead Works, Menheniot, Liskeard' — the same site as Wheal Mary Ann. ¹
The trapped volunteer's own account states he suffered a pelvis fractured in two places, with three weeks in hospital and a further three weeks recovering at home. ²

Sources

(primary) Fire crews rescue casualty from trench at Menheniot — Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service news, 13 November 2007
(observational) Footway Shaft — First-hand account by the site's volunteer excavation team, 2003-2012 (minecaptain.plus.com)

Record created: 26 August 2026 · Last researched: 26 August 2026