Rescued from a porta-potty? The story behind viral video from Kansas City
Kansas City has been trending this summer for how it has handled the World Cup. But a viral video of a man being stuck inside a porta-potty might take the cake.
A video has been going viral of Kansas City firefighters cutting up a porta-potty to rescue a man who was stuck in the tank. The incident occurred Tuesday, July 14, near 18th and Paseo, according to the Kansas City Fire Department.
The porta-potty was owned by Patriot Portable Restrooms, a family-owned business based out of California that delivers porta-potties across the country. In a statement, the company said the man was found when a driver came to service and collect units. When the driver knocked, the individual said he was in there, so the employee left and came back later.
When the man didn’t leave, an officer who happened to be nearby helped open the unit. There appeared to be nobody there, until they saw the man's head popped out the toilet. PPR said the man claimed he was in there for nine hours. He had been trying to retrieve his Mountain Dew bottle.
A KCFD spokesperson said a 911 call was made sometime between 10 and 11 a.m. that day about a man stuck in a porta-potty. It only took a few minutes for the man to get out, with first responders using a saw to cut him space to get out. The man was hosed down afterward.
“He refused any medical treatment or transport after he was freed from the porta potty, and after he was hosed off, he walked away and went about his day,” a KCFD spokesperson said. “It is not something you encounter every day that is for sure.”
How does a man fit inside a porta-potty?
As strange of a situation as it is, the bowl of a porta-potty can actually be large enough for a person to fit in there.
Joe Shelton, the president of Patriot Portable Restrooms, explained how most porta-potties aren’t like regular toilet bowls. The hole where the waste goes is roughly 55 gallons, while the toilet is in the shape of an oval. So theoretically, if a person is smaller in stature, they could fit themselves inside.
Shelton also said that the blue liquid in porta-potties isn’t toxic. It’s a soap-based chemical used primarily for the smell.
“This gentleman, you’ll know who he is,” Shelton said. “He’s probably got blue stains on him, because when you touch that stuff, it stains you for a couple days.”
With that in mind, Shelton did feel like the man could have made more of an effort to get himself out of the hole. In the viral video, Kansas City firefighters were visibly aggravated with the man as they directed him to move forward to get out.
“You’re not in a 10-foot deep pool. It’s a 55-gallon drum basically on its side. That’s only like 2 1/2 feet deep,” Shelton said. “He was sitting there with his head out of the hole. Put your hands up and out, the same way he got in.”
A video with the man's head sticking out of the toilet has over 10 million views on PPR’s TikTok. The porta-potties had been used for a World Cup watch party in the area, according to the company.
Shelton did find some relief that nobody was hurt in the incident, since that was his initial fear when he heard the news. He also said that from a social media standpoint, the incident was a good way for his family-owned company to get its name out there.
He did express that despite this being a silly and viral moment, it doesn’t need to be a recurring theme.
“Let’s not make this a TikTok trend. Just cause one guy did it doesn’t mean everybody should,” he said. “Go for a jog, do that as a TikTok trend.”
