An unusually thin firefighter was able to put his stature to work when he wiggled his 6-foot-1, 160 pound frame into a narrow crevasse to rescue a toddler trapped nine feet underground.

John Michael Butterfield, 16-months-old, was running at the Tamaques Park playground when he wondered into a nearby tennis court and fell into one of six holes dug by a contractor earlier that day to support new floodlights.

The 3-foot-wide hole was filled mostly by a concrete column, but the toddler was able to slip into the remaining 10-inch gap. Butterfield was wedged against a dirt wall and his cries became quiet by the time firefighters arrived.

Pfieffer, stripped down to a T-shirt and trousers, was able to slip his skinny frame into the same niche the toddler was stuck in.

Pfeiffer, quoted by The Star-Ledger

The toddler was just out of reach; but Pfieffer was able to grab his shirt, slip his fingertips under his armpits and hoist him up.

Butterfield was treated for cuts and bruises and released from an area hospital.