A FIVE-YEAR old who became trapped in a tumble dryer at his home in Bangor, Co. Down, was rescued with the aid of the family dog, Teddy, who alerted the boy’s mother that he was in danger.
Riley Gedge-Duffy became trapped after the door closed on the dryer, which automatically turned on.
Teddy, however, managed to raise the alarm to Riley’s mother, who was vacuuming in another room, by barking loudly to notify her that something was wrong.
His father, Aaron Duffy, told BBC’s Good Morning Ulster: “The ambulance man says that another couple of minutes probably would have killed him.”
After the family called an ambulance, Riley was rushed to Ulster Hospital, Dundonald, where he was treated for burns to his arms, back and head.
A five-year-old boy who was trapped in a tumble dryer had his life saved by pet dog, family says https://t.co/ZqjgAIlHJh pic.twitter.com/VqL2Szb71u
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) November 15, 2016
His father said that Riley, who has Down syndrome, is now on the mend. “He’s doing very well,” he said. “He’s up, he’s eating, he’s smiling. He’s the same old Riley.”
The setting on the tumble dryer means that once it is closed, it automatically turns on, and Aaron believes that Riley was extremely fortunate: “The risks are there. We’re one of the lucky ones who caught it in time.”
A spokesperson from the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service Health and Social Care Trust told TheJournal.ie that such an incident was “extremely rare” and indicated that if Riley had been in there a few more minutes, his injuries could have been far more severe.
This was not the first time that the two-year-old female cockapoo, a cross-breed mix between a poodle and a cocker spaniel, stepped in to alert the family that there was something wrong.
The father added: “The dog notified us before of an incident about to happen in the house. A phone charger was overheating and was catching fire. Only for the dog’s reactions on that day did my wife realise something was wrong this time.”
The family hope that Riley will be cleared to return home from hospital in the coming days.
As for Teddy, Aaron told RTE: “[He'll] be getting a fillet steak.”
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