Pasco boy rescued after getting arm stuck in pool pipe

DADE CITY (FOX 13) - Firefighters spent over an hour Wednesday, painstakingly rescuing a boy whose arm got stuck inside a pool pipe.

According to Pasco County Fire Rescue, it was around 3 p.m. when the 911 call came in about a boy who had managed to get his arm stuck inside the PVC pipe in a pool outside a home on Sahalee Loop in Dade City. 

That’s just what firefighters found when they arrived: The teenage boy was in the shallow end of the pool with his arm stuck in the filtration system along the pool’s perimeter.

Rescuers realized they had to remove the decking around the pool and initially got to work using hammers and chisels.  They soon realized that wasn’t enough and called for a jackhammer to help free the boy.

As rain fell, it took crews about an hour and 15 minutes to dig under the pool deck, cut the PVC pipe, and free the boy – with the section of pipe still stuck on his arm.  He was taken to a local hospital to have the pipe removed.

They did not release many more details, but said there wasn't much else to explain.

“It was determined that the boy was playing in the pool, stuck his arm into the PVC skimmer pipe, and was unable to remove his arm from the pipe,” PCFR spokesperson Corey Dierdorff stated.