Alva Review-Courier -

PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona man who fell to the bottom of an old abandoned gold mine shaft, broke both his legs, fought off a trio of rattlesnakes and went two days without food or water before a friend heard his cries for help is lucky to be alive, said the head of a rescue team.

"He is a very fortunate individual," Operations Commander Roger Yensen of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Mountain Rescue Posse said Thursday of 62-year-old John Waddell.

Waddell owns the land where the shaft is located north of Phoenix and was using a rope to lower himself into it on Monday when he lost control and fell...