Igloo Products Corp., a Texas manufacturer, announced it would recall several of its coolers after a father shared video footage of his five-year-old son who had trapped himself inside one of the ice chests.
"We are working closely with our distributors to send customers a free latch-replacement kit that you can use to easily and safely switch out the current latch," the company said in a statement.
The complete statement is below:
Dear Valued Igloo Customer,
We stand behind the quality of our products, and because your safety and satisfaction are our top priority, we wanted to let you know that we are voluntarily recalling the Igloo® Marine Elite coolers. This recall concerns only those Igloo® Marine Elite coolers with stainless-steel ability to lock latches sold under the item numbers listed below:
Igloo® Marine Elite 72 quart; Item #00049375
Igloo® Marine Elite 54 quart; Item #00049374
Igloo® Marine Elite 94 quart; Item #00049574
Igloo® Marine Elite 110 quart; Item #00034108
Igloo® Marine Elite 150 quart; Item #00049573
Igloo® Lockable Latch; Item #00020087
It is possible that the stainless-steel latch could, inadvertently close where a person could potentially become locked inside. We are working closely with our distributors to send customers a free latch-replacement kit that you can use to easily and safely switch out the current latch. If you haven't received a kit, you can contact us toll free at 1(866)-509-3503 to see if the free latch-replacement kit has already been mailed to you. Once removed, please discard the old stainless-steel latches.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this issue may have caused you. Our goal is to do everything we can to get you back out on the water using and loving your Igloo cooler.
Thank you,
Igloo Products Corp.
The company issued the statement mere days after Robert Wanes, the father of a 5-year-old son, shared a Facebook video of his son Nicholas playing in the cooler and getting locked inside. Wanes identified the cooler in the video as an Igloo Marine Elite.
Wanes said the boy got the idea to climb into the cooler, which had been cleaned and was drying out, shortly after the family had returned from the beach.
"Our son starts to scream frantically with one of those screams when you know something is wrong," Wanes wrote in the video.
"We hear it from inside the house and rush outside not knowing at first where his screams were coming from. We had no idea how long he was locked inside!"
In the video below, you can see that the family runs into the camera's view and appears to search for Nicholas.
A woman retrieves the boy from the cooler once the family realizes what has happened.
"Thank god we could hear the frantic screams from inside the house," Wanes continued in the video. "Luckily he was ok. Mom on the other hand was a complete wreck for days."
The video unnerved many parents.
According to Inside Edition, "A 1-year-old, 4-year-old and 6-year-old were playing in their yard Sunday when they apparently climbed inside a freezer that adults had not yet brought inside their Live Oak [Florida] home."
Wanes shared the story and noted that the manufacturer had vowed to recall the latch.
Igloo Products Corp. has not responded to requests for comment.
