Rescuers save man who fell into 100-foot-deep mine shaft and was trapped for days

Authorities on Wednesday rescued a man who'd fallen into a 100-foot-deep mine shaft in western Arizona and was trapped for two days without food or water.

The man, who's in his 60s, was exploring an abandoned gold mine in an area south of Aguila on Monday when he fell down the shaft. He was found some 48 hours later by a "good Samaritan," according to Sgt. Joaquin Enriquez, a spokesperson for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

That good Samaritan was the man's friend, Terry Shrader, according to ABC affiliate KNXV-TV in Phoenix. The two apparently have a "deal" where Shrader will go and check on him if he doesn't return from his outing the following day.

"Since he didn't come home yesterday, I was bound determined to come out here today,” Shrader told KNXV-TV in an interview Wednesday, expressing guilt for not checking sooner. "As I pulled out my truck, I could hear him hollering, 'Help! Help!'"

Shrader said he quickly went to another area to get cell phone service and called 911. The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office sent a search and rescue team to the scene to extract his friend, whom authorities said was injured but "alert and talking."

The rescue mission took hours, but the man was ultimately pulled out of the mine shaft Wednesday night and airlifted to a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said.

"I've been around a few rescues, but never anything like this," Shrader told KNXV-TV. "He's a tough guy."