‘She was pretty much a pretzel’: firefighters pull trapped eight-year-old out of play structure

A Lorette mother is warning parents to keep a close eye on their children, after her eight-year-old daughter became trapped inside a play structure last weekend, prompting a call to emergency services.

“Playgrounds may look like all fun and games, but they can be potentially dangerous, too,” said Keanna Deslaurier.

Deslaurier’s daughter, Nevaeh, was playing at École Lagimodière playground last Sunday in the small community, located 30 kilometres southeast of Winnipeg.

“All I heard was, ‘Mom, I’m stuck,” she said, describing the moment the small child clambered inside a small, plastic drum attached to the play structure.

“She got wedged in there pretty good. She was pretty much a pretzel, one leg was over her head and the other was bent right in front of her.”

Deslaurier, who initially thought her daughter was playing a prank, was soon fighting panic as she and a friend tried to free her daughter.

Within minutes, she realized the seriousness of the situation and called for help, bursting into tears when firefighters from the RM of Taché Fire Department arrived.

“This is definitely one of those calls that you don’t forget,” said Taché Fire Chief Allan Rau, who helped respond to the call.

“We tried to manipulate her legs, but it was not possible, so we ended up making a relief cut in this hard, heavy plastic that this structure was made of and two of our individuals pried it apart and were able to dislodge her from inside the drum.”

Rau estimated Nevaeh was trapped inside the drum for roughly 15 minutes.

“The team worked great in keeping the young girl calm and they were great in getting her out of there. We did it quickly so she didn’t have too much trauma,” he said.

“The best part was we were able to make her stop crying.”

Firefighters gave Nevaeh a white teddy bear to help calm her down once she was freed, Rau said.

The child has slept with the stuffed animal every night since the incident occurred, Deslaurier said.

She noted her daughter was “stiff as heck” after the incident, but otherwise unharmed.

“Now, she just laughs about it,” Deslaurier said.

“Nevaeh wanted to say a special thank you to the firefighter who ended up giving her the stuffed animal, but she got nervous, so I’m saying it for her. We all had our laughs, here and there, and I think they helped her by staying calm because showing fear can cause more fear to the children.

“They were, honestly, the best. I’m just thankful.”

Rau, who has been a firefighter for 43 years, said he has encountered a similar situation on only one other occasion, when he responded to a playground in Landmark for reports of a child stuck in a swing.

“The things we do when we are kids,” he said, laughing.

Rau and his fire crew shaved down the hard plastic edges after cutting Nevaeh free of the play structure, making it safe for other children.

He has since spoken with officials from the Lagimodière school, who told him they would look into modifying or replacing the structure, he said.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca