Alana Scharenbroch almost witnessed the most horrifying moment of her life: when her son, Wyatt, 3, fell into an open grease pit outside of a Denny's eatery, USA Today reported.
"It was the worst thing I've ever seen in my life," she said.
Scharenbroch said she feared her young son would drown or that the pit would lead somewhere she couldn't rescue him from. She frantically tried to rescue Wyatt as she reached into the dark grease pit.
"It smelled like sewage," she said. "I didn't know if it was a contained tube. I thought he was going to get, like, flushed to the lake or sewer forever."
Luckily, Wyatt was saved by his father, Dan Scharenbroch, who was able to grab the boy and pull him out of the 8-feet deep pit by his jacket. Wyatt had swallowed some of the waste after being submerged in it.
"We just stripped him down," Alana said. "Some people came by with water bottles and their diaper bags. They were kind of wiping him off with wipes, and they gave their random clothes from their bags."
The community development department in the Wisconsin town where the event occurred states that restaurants are responsible for making sure grease pits are covered and concerned, according to Fox 11.
"Our concern is first and foremost with the safety of the young boy in this situation. We contract a third party vendor to maintain and service these grease pits and our expectation is that they are secured every time this restaurant is serviced," a Denny's spokesperson said in a statement.
