PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (WHDH) - A several-hundred-pound stone slab landed on a 2-year-old boy’s head in New Hampshire Friday, placing him in “extreme danger,” Portsmouth police said.
Officers responding to 325 Little Harbor Rd. in Portsmouth 5:39 p.m. found the boy pinned between two large slabs of stone that were being stored in the yard to be used as the foundation for a seawall currently under construction, police said.
Moments before the child had been playing on the pile with his grandfather when the several-hundred-pound slab he was standing on dislodged, according to police. This reportedly caused the boy to fall forward as the stone he was standing on landed on his head.
“According to the family members on scene, it all happened in a flash,” Deputy Fire Chief Carl Roediger said.
Officer T.J. Potter, who used to be a professional stone mason who specialized in historical foundation repair, determined that the child was in “extreme danger” as the slab could give way and crush the 2-year-old’s head.
“He brought skills to the scene that probably the fire guys didn’t have,” Roediger said about Potter. “That’s why I say it all works well when we work together.”
Emergency responders worked to stabilize nearby boulders before freeing the boy about nine minutes after receiving the initial 911 call.
The child was transported to Portsmouth Regional Hospital where he is being treated for serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.
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