Boy stuck under deck rescued

A Balclutha youngster found himself in a tight spot yesterday morning, after he crawled under the deck of his family home to help out his mother.

Rosebank School pupil Mark Senada (5) was all dressed up for a day’s learning when, about 8.45am, his mother Amy dropped her credit card through a crack in the family’s rear deck at their Glasgow St home.

No stranger to retrieving objects from beneath the deck, Mark did not need asking twice, and had soon made his way about 5m along the 50cm crawl space and successfully reached the lost card.

However, things went south when the curious youngster spotted another lost object a little further on, Mrs Senada said.

"He’s been under there heaps of times, and he’s small enough to get about with no trouble.

"But he spotted something, and just went that little bit too far this time," she said.

Squeezing his head under a cross-beam, Mark soon discovered he was no longer able to move forward or back.

The family immediately dialled 111, and about 8.50am the Balclutha Volunteer Fire Brigade arrived.

After working to reassure him, officers cleared the deck and used a crowbar to remove planking, allowing access to the crawl space.

They helped him change position, allowing the boy to free his head and emerge dusty but unharmed from the hole, to the relief of Mrs Senada, and husband Samuel.

"I feel terrible for asking him this time, but he seems to be fine.

"A shower and some more cuddles, and then back to normal."

The family thanked the Balclutha brigade for its prompt action.