Butcher trapped in freezer uses sausage to bash his way out

LONDON — A British butcher who got locked in a freezer says he was saved by a frozen sausage that he used as a battering ram.

Chris McCabe says he became trapped in the walk-in freezer at his shop in Totnes, southwest England, last month when wind blew the door shut. The safety button to open the door had frozen in the -4 F chill.

The 70-year-old said he tried unsuccessfully to kick the button free before picking up a 3.3 pound black pudding, a form of blood sausage.

“I had to think of some other way of breaking the door panel,” McCabe told iTV. “I looked around, I found a rabbit and that was no good, I found some bones, they’re no good and then I found this black pudding which I was able to use as it’s solid. I was able to bash it on here a few times and open the door.”

McCabe told Devon Live that he used the meaty tube “like a battering ram” and managed to unstick the button after several blows.

“Black pudding saved my life, without a doubt,” the grateful butcher told the Daily Mirror.