It is a parent's worst nightmare to see his or her child inside any machine and that is what happened to a family in Ireland after their five-year-old boy with Down Syndrome accidentally got himself in a tumble dryer. Their family dog is being hailed as a hero after he barked until someone would take notice of him in an attempt to save the little boy.
The family is from Bangor in County Down, Northern Ireland. The boy was identified as Riley Gedge-Duffy and he has suffered from not so serious injuries from the incident. According to his parents, Gedge-Duffy suffered from scrapes and burns but the family believed it would have been worse had the dog not alerted everyone in the family home.
The incident took place over the weekend. The dog, a cockapoo named Teddy, reportedly went berserk at the mother of Gedge-Duffy so she knew there was something not right. The father of the child, Aaron, said in a statement that his wife was upstairs and the dog ran to her direction. The mother then thought of her five-year-old son and immediately ran downstairs, Telegraph reported.
She saw her older son watching TV and kept on asking where Gedge-Duffy is. The child's older brother said he does not know where his little brother is but the dog was barking and running back and forth to the tumble dryer. However, it was dark inside the area where the dryer is and all the family could hear was banging and crashing. The iPad of the five-year-old boy was also seen inside the dryer going round and round.
The mother immediately pulled Gedge-Duffy out upon realizing that he fell inside the dryer. She poured cold water over him since the dryer is hot. The family then called their emergency hotline. The five-year-old was taken to the Ulster hospital in Dundonald and was treated for his burns and the bruising to his head.
The father said that he could not help but think about what could have happened to their son if the dog was not there and their pet did not try to alert them. He pointed out that it angers him to think about the possibilities because there have been cases that kids got suffocated due to the hot air inside the dryer.
Meanwhile, the 5-year-old boy with Down syndrome is expected to make a full recovery, Arkansas Matters reported. Do you have a miraculous story to share regarding your pets? Let us know below!
