Kansas Toddler Rescued After Falling 10–12 Feet Down PVC Pipe

A Kansas toddler was rescued by quick-thinking first responders after he fell down a narrow pipe on Sunday, police said.

The Moundridge Police Department said officers responded along with Moundridge EMS and Moundridge Fire at around 2 p.m. Sunday to a report of a juvenile needing assistance. They arrived to find a 14-month-old boy had fallen into a PVC pipe approximately 12 inches in diameter and 10–12 feet deep.

The boy’s parents told KSNW-TV they called 911 after realizing their son, Bentley, had fallen into the hole while playing outside their home in Moundridge, about 40 miles northwest of Wichita.

“Looking down at him as he was screaming, he wanted out of there, he wanted help and you can’t do anything. Just complete helplessness,” the boy’s father told the outlet. “It’s horrifying, it’s haunting, to feel so helpless knowing that your child is in serious need of help.”

Body-worn camera video released by police shows Bentley crying as first responders carry out the dramatic rescue.

Officer Ronnie Wagner took a long piece of PVC pipe from a paramedic and used it to fashion a “catch pole” similar to those used to snare snakes and other vermin, then used it to lift the boy out of the pipe.

“We want to especially highlight Officer Wagner, who constructed a makeshift ‘catch pole’ using a smaller PVC pipe and rope,” police said. “This creative solution was instrumental in lifting the child safely from the pipe.”

Bentley was then returned to his worried parents.

“We are relieved to report that the child, while understandably shaken, was unharmed,” police said.

—TMX contributed to this report