Toddler falls down laundry chute, gets stuck in wall

MANCHESTER, N.H. (WHDH) -- A toddler is lucky to be alive after he fell through a laundry chute and became trapped in a wall.

What was planned to be a quiet Thanksgiving Day, turned quite the opposite when one mother heard her son’s bloodcurdling scream.

“He was in the hole right here, six by ten inches,” said mother, Melissa Pendlebury.

The 2-year-old toddler tumbled down a 20-foot-chute through a hatch on the second floor. The family could hear him wailing.

“I was screaming and shaking,” said Pendlebury. “My sister said, 'oh my God he's in the wall.' He had fallen down a wire chute down from the second floor to the basement, but the wires had caught him between his legs.”

“I just punched a hole in the wall so I could get to him and at least hold his hand,” said Eric Leger, the boy’s father.

In a space just ten inches wide, Cayden was trapped and his family had no idea if he was badly hurt.

“I could see his hand and his feet, that’s it. He was just screaming. There was nothing I could do,” said Leger.

Firefighters came minutes later, cutting wires and ripping out plaster to rescue Cayden through an opening in the basement.

“It could have been a lot worse,” said a firefighter.

Cayden has a few scratches on his face. His dad has a broken wrist to show for his effort. The hatch has been sealed off and a Manchester family has a holiday to remember.

“We were planning on a nontraditional, kinda hang at home, order Chinese food, watch movies at home kind of thanksgiving and I guess he really did start it off nontraditional,” said Pendlebury.

Cayden was taken to the hospital where he was checked out by doctors, but was able to return home shortly after.