Boy gets his head stuck on elevator

By Times staff writer

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 4, 2001

SEMINOLE -- A 6-year-old boy was trapped for an hour with his head stuck between an elevator and the elevator's housing Wednesday night in a waterfront house on Boca Ciega Bay.

Firefighters and paramedics had to use several wedges and prying tools to move the elevator enough to free the boy. He was taken to Bayfront Medical Center as a precaution, but his injuries were not believed to be serious.

The boy became stuck shortly before 7:30 p.m. in what paramedics described as a large, two-story "birdcage-style" elevator in his family's home at 7000 131st St. N. The elevator is a circular metal cage contained within a circular steel framework, which is surrounded by a spiral staircase.

"His head was caught between the elevator and the structure," said District Chief Mark Blackburn of the Seminole Fire Department. "He was literally hanging with his feet 5 or 6 feet off the ground. We had a guy on a ladder holding him up."

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