Search icon

Health

22nd Apr 2022

Woman rescued after falling into vault toilet trying to retrieve phone using dog leash as harness

Kieran Galpin

She was trapped for 20 minutes

After trying to retrieve her phone from a vault toilet, an American woman fell headfirst into the pooey abyss and had to be rescued by the local fire department.

An unidentified woman from California is presumably still showering after falling headfirst into a vault toilet, which is described as the waste storage system in facilities without plumbing. Such facilities have their waste containers removed manually.

The woman had been climbing Mount Walker in Washington on April 17 when she dropped her phone into the toilet. After trying to take the toilet apart to get it back, she then used her dog’s lead in an attempt to fish it out. When that also failed, the woman reportedly tried to make a harness to lower herself onto the toilet but consequently fell in herself, according to reports.

Quilcene Fire Rescue and Brinnon Fire Department were called to the scene after the woman was able to locate her phone and call for help – 20 minutes after falling in.

“After disassembling the seat and housing [the woman] used her dog’s leash to try fishing [her phone] out,” a spokesperson for the fire department said via Facebook. “Eventually, she took the leashes to help support herself, which failed, and she slid into and fell into the vault head first.”

Via Getty

Fire rescue was able to build a makeshift platform for the woman to stand on, which they used to hoist her up. The woman was hosed down and changed into white overalls usually worn by forensics teams.

She was uninjured and refused to go to the hospital – despite being advised to do so following her pooey encounter.

“The patient was extremely fortunate not to be overcome by toxic gases or sustain injury,” the fire department said.

Related links: