A spunky, 84-year-old man from northern Vancouver Island who was trapped down a well shaft for four days is recovering from some bruises and dehydration after being discovered by a police dog on Wednesday afternoon.

Bob Bennett, 84, was rescued by RCMP Cpl. Terry Higginson, left, and police dog Nick. (RCMP)Bob Bennett, who lives in a converted train car with his own dog on a sprawling Benson Lake property near the remote community of Port Alice, B.C., fell into the old well sometime Saturday afternoon.

The independent senior was not found until Wednesday afternoon after a search was launched when he failed to show up for a visit at his friend's place in nearby Port Alice.

Speaking after he was discharged from hospital, Bennett called it a minor accident and said he was prepared to spend more time down the well.

"I really found that as long as I infused myself with water at a fairly regular basis that, I didn't find it particularly distressful," he said. "You know, I was searching my memory for the various tales that I'd read with regard to starvation and the rest of it, and I thought, well, I hope we don't have to go 10 days, but if we have to, we have to," he said.

Police called in for search

Bennett's friend and business partner, Barry Christenson told CBC News he was expecting Bennett to stop by over the weekend. When he didn't arrive, Christenson said he went to Bennett's property to see what was up, sometime late Tuesday.

When he got there, Christenson found the front door unlocked, a pitcher of iced tea growing moldy on the counter and Bennett's dog roaming loose with only dried food in its dish.

'Mr. Bennett, at 84 years old, has shown us that age means nothing when you have the will to survive.' — Cpl. Michelle LeBrun of Port Alice RCMP

Suspecting something was wrong, Christenson called the RCMP just before midnight on Tuesday.

At first light on Wednesday morning, the search team arrived, along with a police dog, and began searching the rural property, which was known to contain old mining shafts.

Heavy rain and rugged terrain made search efforts arduous and, at times, very challenging, said police. But just after 3 p.m. PT, Nick the police dog led his handler, Cpl Terry Higginson, to a hole in the ground less than a metre wide on the side of a mountain.

And at the bottom of the 2.4-metre deep shaft, police found Bennett, covered in mud, but alive and in good spirits.

Bob Bennett spent four days down this old well shaft waiting to be rescued. (RCMP)The octogenarian had survived by using a tissue to soak up moisture from the bottom of the dry well to drink, but with no food, he lost so much weight he had to hold his pants up with his hand as rescuers pulled him out of the shaft, Christenson said.

Bennett was not visibly injured and insisted all he needed was a bowl of soup. He was taken to Port Hardy Hospital for assessment and was expected to be discharged from hospital on Thursday.

The RCMP officers were impressed by the remarkable resilience of the elderly Bennett, who credited wearing a pair of long wool underwear for keeping him warm.

Cpl. Michelle LeBrun of Port Alice RCMP said, "Mr. Bennett, at 84 years old, has shown us that age means nothing when you have the will to survive.… He has left us with one of those stories that only come around once or twice in your career."

One tough senior, says friend

Bennett told police he had dug the three-metre deep shaft three decades ago, and was looking for it on his sprawling property to do some maintenance when he fell through the rotten cover

But once down the shaft he quickly turned his mind to figuring out how to get back up.

"He's sitting down there trying to figure out how to get out, so he takes his jeans off, ties a piece of the broken board that he's stepped on to one leg, throws it out like a lasso, hooks onto a tree, pulls himself up until he's just about out of the hole and the board breaks and he falls back down. He did that four times," said LeBrun.

Christenson told CBC News he was braced for the worst until his friend was found.

"It's hard to explain when you're almost prepared for someone not to be alive, or when you are prepared for someone not to be alive, and they are, how emotional you can get. … It's pretty tough," Christenson said, choking back a few tears.

Christenson said there's no doubt now his friend is as spunky as they come: "He's pretty tough, that's for sure."