Saturday, August 13, 2011

two toddlers and a 911 call

Saturday, early afternoon: Start bath water. Put Harper in tub. Go grab towel in hall right next to bathroom. Landon shuts bathroom door. Landon locks bathroom door. I nicely tell Landon to "turn the nose on the door". He laughs, thinking how fun this is, and refuses to unlock the door. After a minute of kindly coaxing, I start to panic. I pound on the door and yell for him to unlock it. Anthony runs over with his tool box and unscrews the knob. Still, the door won't open. Harper and Landon are crying hysterically while the water rises higher and higher. I yell for Harper to get out of the tub. Landon cries for Harper to get out of the tub. Harper stays in tub, terrified, as water is almost to the top. Anthony is frantically trying to get the door open.


I call 911 while running across the apartment complex to see if maintenance can get the door open before the fire department. Maintenance is unreachable. I hear sirens and pray they'll get through the gate quickly enough. I run back upstairs to our apartment and burst through the front door still on the phone with the dispatcher, apartment management trailing behind me. I turn the hall corner, Anthony is holding Harper tightly in the hallway amid shards of shattered door wood and scattered tools. Landon and Harper are both crying. I am too, but these are tears of pure relief.
Now we're off to go do something fun with our precious babes and forget about what happened. But not before we head to Home Depot and get a lockless doorknob. 

8 comments:

Emily said...

so SO so THANKFUL, Harper was okay! What was Landon's reaction when all was said and done? Remember the trick from Ever After? Just unscrew the door and take it off. Forget about the lock. I've known parents to just keep the knobs off the door completely too. Crazy stuff!

I hate that heart pounding fear when danger is near! You both handled the situation so well. Thank Heavens, you are all alright.

Jana said...

scary scary scary. i had tears in my eyes just from reading. i'm so glad everything was ok!

"Ann Shinny" (Aunt Cindy) said...

"Turn the nose on the doorknob!" Lol!!! I wonder where you got that idea! I remember those days well. When I was locked in the garage, 6 week old Nathan was lying on the sofa while I coaxed 18 month old Adam to turn the nose on the doorknob. Thank goodness it worked, but Adam kept taking play breaks that lasted what felt like an eternity before he got down to business and let me in! Whew! I don't miss all that baby drama. Just wait 'til they get older, but this website is rated PG so we'll skip that for now.

Dione said...

Holy cow, that is sooo scary! I'm so glad Anthony was home to kick the door down haha! Wow, so happy everyone was o.k, what a ordeal.

Tausha Wierlo said...

Oh my gosh! That is terrifying!!!

Kristy Hurst said...

Oh, Kali...I am so sorry. What a horror story. Travis said he would of done the same thing. There wouldn't of been a door left! I am glad your hubby was home. So happy it all turned out okay.

Unknown said...

I am so glad that it all worked out and they are safe!

CEP Paul T said...

From a firefighter and flight paramedic searching reports ...

Good work, Anthony. The door can be replaced. Kids not so much.

But don't be shy about calling 911. We would rather show up to a broken door than hurt little ones.

Many blessings to you and yours.

Paul T