A harrowing video captured the moment a rescue team reacted quickly and saved a toddler who had fallen down a narrow, deep PVC pipe in his Kansas yard. Bentley, a 14-month-old boy, was playing in his family’s front yard on Sunday when he stepped on a loose manhole cover and fell nine feet — about five times his height.
“We’re going to get you out, Bentley. It’s okay,” his father, Blake, assured his screaming son as emergency crews gathered around the hole, which was just a foot in diameter, planning how to get the boy back to the surface. “Mom’s here. We’re going to get you out. It’s okay,” his mother, Elizabeth, added, holding back tears.
As the boy’s wails echoed in the background, the team fashioned a pole from a smaller PVC pipe and rope, similar to those used to trap wild animals, to rescue Bentley. The dramatic video shows one team member carefully maneuvering the pipe while another reaches into the narrow hole and grabs the boy, who instantly stops sobbing upon seeing sunlight again.
Miraculously, Bentley was not injured in the ordeal. “It was very stressful and traumatic, honestly, and I felt like it was the longest 25 minutes of my life,” Elizabeth said. KAQUEThe relieved mother described how she witnessed the freak accident unfold before her eyes: Bentley was running across the grass when he stepped on the loose tire, flipping it over and plunging into the exposed hole.
Blake, who was repairing a car in the driveway, was alerted by the screams of his son and wife. “My wife screamed this horrible scream. I was with her when she gave birth to two babies, and this is the scream you never want to hear because you know something dangerous has happened,” he told the outlet.
Although harrowing, Bentley’s constant screams were encouraging, as they indicated that he was conscious. First responders tried several different methods to reach the boy, who in his panic thwarted several of their attempts: Bentley broke free from a rope the crew had attempted to wrap around him.
The team also tried using a PVC pipe with a L-shaped bend at the end to make a loop. Bentley was under the boy. When that didn’t work, they came up with the idea of creating a restraint post. “He calmed down immediately. It was a big sigh of relief,” Blake said. Bentley was muddy and shaken up, but didn’t require a trip to the hospital.
Authorities said the boy’s quick reaction might have saved him from further harm; they suspect he slowed his descent by waving his arms as he fell. No one is sure of the purpose of the pipe in the family’s yard, but it’s possible it was once connected to a sump pump, used to divert excess rainwater away from the house. Blake and Elizabeth have already made plans to bolt down the cover to prevent future accidents.