Ottawa firefighters surprise brave boy rescued from bathtub drain

After a harrowing ordeal where a young boy's fingers became trapped in a bathtub drain over the weekend, firefighters returned to the scene to deliver a special surprise for his bravery.

Izabela Jasiewicz and Tanner Rutley's bathtub now bears the scars of a Saturday morning gone awry, with parts of the tub and ceiling below piled in a trash bin outside. What started as a routine bath for their sons, one-year-old Lincoln, and two-year-old Grayson, quickly turned into a frightening situation when three of the two-year-old's fingers became lodged inside the drain.

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"His little brother decided to pull the drain of the tub and Grayson wanted it stopped. Water, suction and away they went," says mother, Izabela. "It was scary; I tried to pull his hand nothing happened. Called my neighbours they came over and they tried to help, nothing happened so 911 It was."

At the time, Rutley was out running errands when he got the call to come home.

"I went for a haircut with my oldest son. I got a frantic call from my wife that he was stuck in the drain and the firefighters were on the way, so I booked it," he says. "I got home and ran upstairs to see and it's scary for sure you can't see the other side of his fingers. You didn't know if they were purple or not they look good from the outside, but it was couple of hours of just the worst fear."

Grayson's grandmother, Joanna Jasiewic, was also visiting at the time, and helped calm the other four siblings as emergency responders rushed to the scene.

"Scary, yeah and his siblings were afraid and everybody was kind of running around going, 'What's going on?'" she says. "But I was really impressed with how Grayson just sat there calmly."

When firefighters arrived on scene, they could see the young boy's hand was stuck in the bathtub drain past the first knuckle. The initial attempts to free Grayson using soap and conditioner proved unsuccessful, prompting members of the Ottawa Fire Services to resort to measures that were more complex.

Using a rotary tool, crews cut out a section of the tub and on the exterior of the house, from the soffit below the bathtub, cut loose the ABS pipe.

Grayson Rutley, 2, got his fingers stuck in the bathtub drain on March 16, 2024, requiring the help of Ottawa firefighters to free him. (Ottawa Fire Services/supplied)

"It did turn into a very complex extrication," says Nick DeFazio, with Ottawa Fire Services. "Our crews are always training for these types of calls. This was a unique one, but they did formulate a plan and executed it, and that's what they are good at."

Firefighter Luca Paoloni was among those who came to Grayson's rescue, where he remained by his side during the three-hour extraction.

"We were all impressed with Grayson. He definitely made our job a lot easier. Even helped us out with the flashlight, giving us some light to see where his fingers were and with all the cutting, the noise, the vibrations, honestly, he definitely did his part. And we were watching a little bit of Despicable Me, some Angry Birds. He's definitely going to remember that bath that's for sure."

Once Grayson was cut free of the bathroom, he was brought outside where crews cautiously cut back portions of the small metal drain. His fingers were freed without any serious injury.

"I know he was very thankful when they all got him out. He couldn't start saying thank you himself to everybody as soon as he was instantly released. All he said was thank you, thank you. Thank you to everybody," says Jasiewicz.

On Tuesday, in a heartwarming reunion, the firefighters returned to Grayson's home to surprise him with a special visit where he was able to have some playtime on the firetrucks with the heroes that saved his hand. Grayson was also presented with a special OFS Challenge Coin in recognition of his bravery.

For Izabela and Tanner, the kindness and dedication of the firefighters who went beyond the call of duty left a lasting impression.

"Thank you," she says. "A big thank you. I can't thank them enough, honestly, I really can't."

While it was a long process, fire crews were done their part before 3 p.m., which meant there was still plenty of time to celebrate Rutley's 30th no-longer-surprise birthday party.

"The fire team was awesome just the best," says Rutley. "As soon as he got out, it was about the party. He was fine and we had fun and we played all night, me and him, until he passed out."