Thumbs out and up for CFA rescue

By Helena Adeloju

CFA members were called in to remove a Pakenham child’s thumbs when he got them stuck in a toy workbench.
The three-year-old was playing with the plastic workman’s bench and tools when he pushed both thumbs into holes on the top of the bench.
His thumbs swelled and despite his mother’s efforts to slide them free using olive oil, they refused to budge.
Senior Station Officer Scott Shenfield said it took Pakenham CFA members 15 minutes of delicate cutting to remove the boy’s fingers from the toy.
“Kids get stuck in plug holes and all sorts of places and we just have to work out the best way to get them unstuck,” he said.
The boy was upset and distressed by the ordeal, but was found to be unharmed when examined by paramedics after the incident which occurred at 9.43am on Friday 21 April.