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Child Bruised But Safe After Getting Stuck in Home’s Laundry Chute

Nov. 25, 2012 12:07pm Liz Klimas

The parents of a New Hampshire 2-year-old woke to a sound no parent ever wants to hear: “a blood-curdling scream.”

CBS Local out of Boston reported mother Melissa Pendlebury saying she could hear her son Cayden but couldn’t find him on Thanksgiving morning. It wasn’t long before she and the boy’s father Eric Leger found that he had gone feet first down their Manchester home’s the laundry chute.

New Hampshire 2 Year Old Rescued From Inside Homes Wall After Falling Down the Laundry Chute

The boy’s parents never thought he could fit down the chute. (Image: WHDH video screenshot)

WHDH has more of the parents’ account:

“I was screaming and shaking,” said Pendlebury. “My sister said, ‘oh my God he’s in the wall.’ He had fallen down a wire chute down from the second floor to the basement, but the wires had caught him between his legs.”

“I just punched a hole in the wall so I could get to him and at least hold his hand,” said Eric Leger, the boy’s father.

In a space just ten inches wide, Cayden was trapped and his family had no idea if he was badly hurt.

“I could see his hand and his feet, that’s it. He was just screaming. There was nothing I could do,” said Leger.

Watch the report:

WHDH-TV –

The fire department was called in to rescue the boy from the 20-foot chute. One firefighter is reported by WHDH as saying it could have been a lot worse for the boy who only had a few visible bumps and bruises.

Cayden has a few scratches on his face after he got stuck in the chute. (Photo: WHDH)

Leger on the other hand broke his wrist after punching through the wall to get a closer look at his son, according to CBS Local.

The family has now bolted the door to the chute to prevent further incidents.

(H/T: AOL)

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Comments (14)

M13
Posted on November 25, 2012 at 8:05pm
The same thing happened to Encinom when he was a child, but he got his head stuck in the toilet.

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- November26
  Posted on November 26, 2012 at 5:41am
  I’m so glad Glen decided to make the Blaze a “real” news site, or I may have missed this story. Read fresh political commentary at: http://smallcraftadvisorychronicles.blogspot.com/
  
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Conservative2
Posted on November 25, 2012 at 5:06pm
Makes no Sense to have it that low tot he floor but also makes no sense to have one of these with electrical wires inside the chute? How long before clothes come up missing? We have gotten lazy, why not just carry the dirty clothes to the basement area? After all we all can use the exercise!

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- Eastinfection
  Posted on November 25, 2012 at 6:16pm
  Not electrical wires…It’s a chute made of wire… mold doesn’t build up on them like other surfaces. I’m a remodeling contractor and have installed these before.
  
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Valuable
Posted on November 25, 2012 at 3:10pm
My sister bought a home that was built in the last 15 years and it had a chute about 2 feet off of the ground where a little one could easily fall through. She covered it up and her oldest never even knew it was there!

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Magyar
Posted on November 25, 2012 at 2:06pm
Oh Dear, I know this scene all too well!.. I had a laundry chute in my first house, a 1920s 3 story Tudor… I turned the corner from the kitchen only to see my curious 2 yr.old son standing on his Big Wheel seat with half his torso DOWN THE CHUTE! I grabbed him just in the nick of time….. He was out of my sight for less than 1 minute!

Needless to say, I had my hubby secure the door with four 3 inch long screws!

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DZ-015
Posted on November 25, 2012 at 1:05pm
Have never heard of a building code anywhere which would allow the door to a laundry chute to be placed low enough on a wall to allow a toddler to climb through. Mine had to be four feet off the floor, with the door hinged on the top, rather than the side.

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- CatB
  Posted on November 25, 2012 at 1:08pm
  I would bet that this is an older home ..
  
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- AffirmationChick
  Posted on November 25, 2012 at 1:22pm
  Our home was built in 1964 and the laundry chute is in the bottom of a regular cabinet in the bathroom, about three inches off the floor. It’s only about five feet but we’re all overly cautious about keeping my 18-month-old nephew away from it because we realize it’s a danger.
  
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- Kaoscontrol
  Posted on November 25, 2012 at 4:17pm
  Though this story is a little horrifiing, Laundry chute sliding success must depend on the chute’s and/ or child’s size. As a second grader my buddies and I spent many a fun hour sliding down one families chute from the upstairs (2 story house) down to the basement. Only one kid got stuck because he was wearing hiking boots… But it was only a minute or two and we were able to pry him out. Sometimes what is unsettleing from a parents perspective, make for the greatest childhood memories.
  
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DadRocked
Posted on November 25, 2012 at 12:44pm
Sounds like one of the trolls ways of saying that Agenda 21 is working as planned.

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forthepeople
Posted on November 25, 2012 at 12:27pm
This seem to happen growing up in most neighborhood / cities , never made Nation News for there was always something more important than local squad runs ?

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Eastinfection
Posted on November 25, 2012 at 12:27pm
oh chute, i’m stuck!

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- DADDYWOREAWHITEHAT
  Posted on November 25, 2012 at 1:48pm
  Cute.
  
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