Monday, April 20, 2009

Toilet training mishap as toddler's foot gets stuck in potty

A toddler who got her foot stuck in a potty had to be rescued by a team of firefighters with specialist cutting equipment. Three-year-old Rebecca Rogers from Chirk, near Wrexham, became stuck in the handle of the potty after playing with her sister. Using cutting equipment usually required for road crash victims, the crew freed Rebecca after 15 minutes.

Her father Kevin Rogers said: "It was really embarrassing." He had only bought the potty on Wednesday to start taking his daughter through the early stages of toilet training. But the following day, as he left Rebecca and her two-year-old sister Daniella with the potty as he washed some dishes, the accident happened.

"I heard this horrible scream but thought the girls were just fighting as usual," he said. "When the scream carried on I realised something was really wrong so I charged into the living room, only to find that Rebecca had her foot lodged in the handle of the potty. She was hysterical. I tried my best to release the foot, but it was really stuck in there.



"I got some sharp scissors from the kitchen and then some shears from the garden, but it was too dangerous to cut her free so I phoned the fire service. I never expected a full fire crew in the truck to arrive, but it did. It was really embarrassing when three firemen came into the house. I had to reassure neighbours that there was no fire!"

Mr Rogers said the firemen took around 15 minutes to release Rebecca's foot using extremely sharp scissors and other specialist cutting gear. He also said the fire service wanted to keep the potty intact for future use.

"When they had finally cut her foot free they were being really careful not to damage the potty," he said. "As they dealt with the last few millimetres, they told me that they wanted to preserve it so it could still be used. I couldn't believe it."

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