LISA FERNANDEZ
Contra Costa Times

When a 2-year-old boy drops a Hot Wheels inside a hole along the wall of his dad's pickup truck, he naturally reaches his little arm inside to fish it free.

And that's what began the four-hour ordeal Tuesday to remove Caleb Colmenero's right index finger from a hole deep inside the back wall of his daddy's Ford F-150 truck.

Daniel Colmenero grabbed a stick of butter and tub of Vaseline when he discovered his son's finger hopelessly stuck. He tried for 45 minutes to shimmy the finger free. No luck. So Caleb's mom called 911.

At first, San Jose firefighters poured cooking oil down the hole. Then, to the horror of the crying toddler, out came the saw. The 24-volt DeWalt reciprocating saw, to be exact, which fire crews typically use to cut victims out of car wrecks. This time, firefighters had a more delicate technique in mind.

"The finger was so swollen and discolored," Fire Capt. Chuck Rangel said. "We felt removal of the truck skin was the only possible remedy."

Paramedic Adam Cheney and fire engineer Derek Parmer steadily sliced out a rectangular chunk of the rear truck wall, leaving the 2-pound hunk of metal around the 2-year-old's finger, like a giant ring. Then it was off to Good Samaritan Hospital for the final cut.

In the emergency room, Rangel said the fire crew took the lead, sawing through the metal with a hacksaw blade, with doctors standing by. Finally, they pried away the remaining piece of dad's Ford F150 from Caleb's finger.

"He promised he's not going to put his fingers in any more holes," said his mom, Eva Colmenero. "I believe him."

By late afternoon, Caleb, his parents and newborn sister, Natalie, were back at their San Jose home, happily watching Caleb wiggling all of his 10 tiny digits.

On Wednesday, the tiny boy with Superhero Velcro sneakers and a penchant for mischief looked no worse for the wear. A bit shy, he finally held up his right finger, showing only slightly pink and puffy.

In all the confusion, the Hot Wheel was not found.

The "Great Finger Save" on North 13th Street was quite a feat, even for a fire department whose crews have rescued amusement park guests from roller coaster rides and hoisted children out of wells. Rangel credited the work of colleague, Capt. Sean Lovens, and the crew on Truck No. 1.

"We get kids at the playground sometimes who get their knees stuck in between rails," Rangel said. "So, we're able to just spread the bars a quarter inch, and their knees just slide out. But this was definitely not something we do very often.''

Caleb's parents insist they will be more vigilant supervising him near the truck, Dad's carpentry tools, anywhere his tiny hands might get into.

A good goal, but it's impossible for any parent to predict what a 2-year-old will do, Rangel said. "And you can't really childproof your truck."

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February 9, 2011