Fire crews called in as toy traps tot's finger

A TOT sparked an emergency alert when he got his finger stuck in his favourite toy – and had to be cut free by firefighters.

On Monday evening two-year-old Adam Brown was watching cartoons and running his hand along a toy JCB Tool Bench when his forefinger stuck fast in a hole in the casing. The youngster was tethered to the workbench in his Dalry home for nearly two hours before hospital staff managed to dislodge it.

Mum Angela said her son grew increasingly agitated as she struggled to free his swollen finger from the tough plastic casing, even dousing the trapped digit with baby oil, washing-up liquid and shampoo.

Angela then called firefighters and paramedics to help remove the toy. Within minutes fire crews arrived and used bolt cutters to snap away a section of the workbench while an ambulance crew tended to his finger.

"As soon as he realised he could not get it out he became agitated and started to cry and panic," Angela said.

"He had never had anything like this happen to him before and it was breaking my heart to see him in such discomfort."

Adam's finger had swollen so much that it was impossible to ease free without cutting away the plastic casing.

"For a long time it seemed the firefighters didn't know what to do with it," said Angela. "It's a kid's toy so they thought it would be pliable and easy to remove but it wasn't at all.

"I started to worry because the blood flow had been compressed for some time and I didn't want Adam to suffer any tissue damage."

She said Adam was so traumatised by the episode that paramedics thought he might have to be sedated.

Mother and son were shielded with a towel at the Sick Kids Hospital while nurses used wire-cutters to carefully chip away at what remained of the plastic. And after an hour and a half Adam was freed. "When he his finger was freed it was a huge relief," said Angela. "His finger was huge, like a balloon. It had been going on for so long that everyone was just really relieved."

Once Adam was asleep after returning home, she e-mailed the toy manufacturer JCB.

She said: "It's silly that the workbench is not made from thinner plastic. It's a poor design, the plastic is very thick and the holes that are all over it to hang things on can be quite sharp."

A spokesman for JCB said there had been no reports that the product – labelled on their website as a "rugged, durable workbench with all the tools JCB Juniors need to get the job done" for ages three and over – had caused injury before.

He added: "We're surprised to learn of this. It's the first time we've heard of anything like this involving this toy which has passed all the necessary safety tests and which has sold in the tens of thousands for many years."