A Canadian mother watched every parent's nightmare unfold when her two-year-old's leg became stuck in an escalator.
Andrea Diaczok was about to board a flight home to Calgary with her husband and son Julian on Friday (local time) after visiting Vancouver.
As the family rode an escalator at Vancouver International Airport, disaster struck. Julian's boot became stuck between the railing and the stairs as they approached the bottom.
His terrified parents tried to pull him free, but the boy was trapped.
"His whole boot basically disappeared," Ms Diaczok told the Calgary Herald.
Ms Diaczok, who is 22 weeks pregnant, began screaming for help as the bottom of the escalator came closer to Julian's foot.
By the time someone hit the emergency stop bottom, he was just a few stairs away from the bottom. Julian had already been injured by the escalator, to his mother's horror.
"It twisted his leg around and broke his leg, and then the entire foot of the boot disappeared in the side of the escalator," she told the Calgary Herald.
"I didn't even know if his foot was there. I didn't know if there's only a stump there at this point."
Her son was eventually freed, thanks to a bystander who had a pair of scissors on hand. He had a broken leg and bruises, but his boots saved him from worse injuries.
Vancouver International Airport is investigating the incident.
Ms Diaczok says she taught her son to be careful when stepping on and off escalators, but never expected that he could get into danger halfway down. Now she's advising other parents to be vigilant.
"We just don't want to see this happen to anyone else."
She told Newshub that Julian should make a full recovery, but has suffered from "night terrors about his toes" since the incident.
"He gets upset if he wakes up and his feet aren’t wrapped up in blankets," she says.
She has been criticised for "presumed absent parenting", which she says is unfair as she was holding her son's hand at the time.
"I think it’s unfortunate that is considered an acceptable possible outcome even if you are doing all the right things," she says.
"Nobody should have to pay for a stumble with a body part."
Newshub.
