Young Riley Gedge-Duffy, from Bangor in County Down, Northern Ireland, is one lucky little boy. The 5-year-old took his entire family by surprise recently when he got himself stuck in their tumbler dryer. Riley has Down’s Syndrome, was rescued when his family’s Cockapoo ran upstairs to get the attention of his mother. Without Teddy’s perseverance, Riley’s injuries would have been much worse and the event could have even been fatal.
Aaron Duffy, Riley’s father, told the Press Association: “My wife was upstairs hoovering at the time and the dog ran upstairs and basically went berserk so she knew something was not right.” When she ran downstairs, Teddy was barking urgently and running back and forth toward the tumble dryer. It was dark inside, so his mother couldn’t see Riley inside.
The pet dog who saved a boy from suffocation in a tumble dryer https://t.co/VXE25IXnQo pic.twitter.com/8GulkE7B57
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) November 15, 2016
But she knew something was up with the way Teddy was acting. Their little pooch was absolutely determined to rescue his young human. “They could hear banging and crashing and could see his iPad going round and round. We suspect he was inside for a couple of minutes. She pulled Riley out and started pouring cold water over him,” Duffy told the Press Association.
Riley was taken to Ulster hospital in Dundonald where he’s been treated for burns and bruising. Thankfully, he’s recovering well. Duffy has no doubt that without Teddy’s help, Riley’s injuries would have been much worse and potentially fatal.
“Only for our dog reacting the way she did, my wife would not have known something was up,” he said. Cheers to Teddy and here’s hoping for a quick and painless recovery for Riley!
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