Billy comes unstuck

By Sarah Schwager
A TOORADIN boy caused a stir at a local sports club on Sunday when he got stuck in the chute of a claw game.
Four-year-old Billy King was attempting to score himself a free prize ball by crawling up the chute at the Tooradin Sports Club.
He secured the ball but it became stuck between his hand and his head as he reversed out, trapping him in the chute.
Twenty firefighters and SES officers, two police officers and two paramedics rushed to the club at about 4.30pm.
Billy’s face was visible through the glass case as his rescuers worked to free him. He remained calm and relaxed as emergency workers first popped the ball then used lubricant to squeeze him free.
His mother, Zoe Pearce, could not believe it when she rushed to the scene after her elder son, eight, alerted them to what had happened.
“I was chatting with friends when my partner said he was stuck in the ball machine. I thought he had his arm in it, but no, he was halfway up there,” she said.
Ms Pearce said if it was going to be any kid, it would be hers.
“I wasn’t panicking too much because he wasn’t. The kid is renowned for being adventurous. Afterwards he was somersaulting around the place with not a care in the world.”
Tooradin Sports Club manager Graeme Bland said the incident caused a bit of excitement at the club.
“It was quite funny. He’s just a little fella and he obviously wanted one of the balls out of the machine,” Mr Bland said.
“So he crawled himself up the chute where it came out, and of course he got stuck.”
Mr Bland said an external company owned the machine and the keys to open it were at least 40 minutes away so the club called emergency services.
“He got a little teddy bear from the fire brigade at the end of it and they gave him a ride in the truck. He was as happy as Larry,” Mr Bland said.
Ms Pearce said the photos of Billy being removed from the machine, especially the ones after they had to take his pants off, were going into his glory box for when he turned 21.
“The fire officers gave him a rescue bear and waved it around the glass to keep him calm. Then he got a bowl of ice cream at the end,” she said.
“It would have been different if he was stressed out and crying but he accepted that he had got himself into an awkward situation and so he was okay.”
The story quickly spread through the small coastal town with Billy’s mischievous reputation preceding him.
Tooradin Sports Club president Rex Genoni said Billy was a little terror like most at that age, but perhaps a little more so.