A firefighter was forced to put his professional skills into action at home when his son got his head stuck in a toilet seat.
The two-year-old was playing with the seat at home in Bristol when the accident occurred.
Dad Ross Pullen told the Press Association: “[My wife] turned around and he said ‘mummy, I’ve got a new hat’ and I think it was at that point we realised it wasn’t coming off.
“My wife called me upstairs, I looked in and thought ‘oh no, only you could do that’.”
The work never stops! One of our Watch Managers had to respond to an incident involving his young boy and a toilet seat! Thank fully he was released safely, all whilst using appropriate PPE! Good work 👏! Please don't try this at home, call the professionals. @RAP605 @dremel pic.twitter.com/lIR4SL1qoC
— Temple Fire Station (@TempleFireStn) January 28, 2019
Luckily for the boy, his dad has plenty of experience in extracting people who have got themselves stuck in unusual situations.
Pullen is a watch manager at Temple Fire Station, so is trained in exactly what to do in such situations.
Using protection in the form of a tea towel, some goggles and a plastic container lid to ensure his son was safe, Pullen set about cutting him free.
He said: “We basically brought him back downstairs, calmed him down, sat him on his potty, which is quite ironic, watched Finding Nemo for a bit, to calm him down and then…we cut it off, and he was happy.”
To clarify, no crews were called to this incident. This was the Watch Manager's son and he dealt with the incident himself at home. However, if your child is stuck and in distress, we would always advise that you do call us rather than potentially causing further harm. https://t.co/XACAMfQWg9
— Avon Fire & Rescue Service (@AvonFireRescue) January 29, 2019
Pullen sent the photos of the incident to the station, who shared them on Twitter “to highlight the dangers of the toilet seats and making sure that children aren’t left alone using them and making sure people know what to do in an emergency”.
While no fire crew was needed on this occasion, Pullen was clear that any parents who find themselves in a similar situation shouldn’t be shy about calling an expert.
He said: “I’ve cut several off in my career, cut children out of swings, heads in railings, got cats out of trees, people out of trees… it’s just something that you don’t see every day.”