World Cup fan rescued by firefighters after eight-hour toilet trauma

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FT Desk

Kansas City firefighters had to rescue a man from porta-potty horror after he was stuck inside a cubicle for more than eight hours.

On 14th July, following a World Cup watching event in Kansas City the night before, employees of Patriot Portable Restrooms went to retrieve their cubicles only to discover that one was locked.

The man inside continually refused to get out, which led to the Kansas City Police Department and the Kansas City Fire Department attending the scene.

It was subsequently discovered that the man had somehow got himself stuck inside the actual toilet bowl the night previously and that he'd been trapped inside for eight hours.

Videos from the scene showed crews cutting into the plastic structure while the man called for help from beneath the toilet seat.

Here’s a statement from the port-a-pot company regarding the man that was found inside one of their toilets.

It gets even worse than you imagined. 😳 pic.twitter.com/u0xeK3STIT

— Amiri King (@AmiriKing) July 16, 2026

It later emerged that the man had climbed into the tank the night before after dropping a bottle of Mountain Dew into the toilet. According to Patriot Portable Restrooms, which supplied the units, he became stuck and spent all night inside the sewage tank.

The man wasn't discovered until workers arrived to collect the toilets after the event. When they found one unit locked, they knocked repeatedly and eventually called over a police officer. After forcing the door open, they initially thought the cubicle was empty until the man suddenly popped his head up through the toilet opening and told them he was trapped.

Kansas City firefighters used handheld saws to cut him free before hosing him down with water from a fire engine. He was rescued safely, although the incident quickly went viral.

Chip Counterman of Patriot Portable Restrooms explains:

"Hey everybody, here to set the story straight for what happened on July 14th, 2026

"My name is Chip Counterman. I'm a partner with Patriot Portable Restrooms here in Kansas City. One of our guys went to pick up an event from the World Cup and knocked on all the doors, made sure nobody was in the restrooms. He did find one of them locked, knocked on the door and let the gentleman know he had 10 minutes to get out. He picked up everything else, went back to that toilet, and knocked again. The man inside said he was not going to get out.

"Luckily, a police officer on a motorcycle went by. Our driver waved him down. The cop walked up to the door and asked the man to exit the toilet. The man replied that he could not reach the door and couldn't get out of the toilet.

"They looked inside and didn't see anybody. The lid was closed, no one was in the restroom, it kind of startled them. All of a sudden, a head popped out of the toilet and he said, 'I'm in here!'

STUCK WHERE?!?!? Firefighters in Kansas City were forced to cut apart a portable toilet after a man somehow became trapped beneath the seat in a strange rescue. https://t.co/7deBVUY1QP

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) July 15, 2026

"Fire department came after that and tried to instruct the man to exit the toilet and the man would not do it.

"They asked him why he went in and he told them he was retrieving a Mountain Dew bottle that he dropped in from the night before. So that put him inside of the tank for about eight hours.

"All of that was true. After it was cut open, the man was able to exit the toilet. Fire department did hook up water to their truck and gave him a free shower. Long story short, horrible situation. Thank you to the Kansas City, Missouri Fire Department and Police Department for all the help.

"Watch out falling into toilets."

Lesson learned.