Drop-in freezer door slammed shut on my arm for 20 minutes last Tuesday

I was alone in the back kitchen at the diner around 2pm restocking ice cream buckets. The hydronic closer on the walk-in freezer door jammed and the door swung shut on my right arm, pinning me against the shelves. Had to use my left hand to grab a butter knife off a nearby prep cart and wedge it into the hinge to pop the door open. Anyone else have a scary moment with a malfunctioning door closer in their kitchen?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_sean23d ago

Oh man, that's wild! I had something similar happen but with a walk-in cooler door at a place I used to work. The handle broke off from the inside and I was stuck in there for like 45 minutes before someone found me. I was just banging on the door and yelling but it was during a slow period so nobody was around. Eventually I kicked the bottom of the door hard enough to pop the seal and crawl out. Spent the whole time worrying about my ice cream melting too, haha. That butter knife trick is smart though, I never would have thought of that. Glad you got out okay, those doors are no joke when they jam up.

jason52423d agoMost Upvoted

Man I had a door closer malfunction but it was a different kind of nightmare. Was working a late shift at a grocery store and the spring on the freezer door snapped while I had both hands full of those big gallon tubs of ice cream. Door just whooshed closed behind me and the latch caught, couldn't reach the handle with my arms pinned. Ended up having to set all the tubs down on the floor real careful, then used my apron to grip the handle cause my hands were too cold and sweaty to get a good hold. The worst part was I had to just stand there for a good 10 minutes trying not to panic while the cold started seeping into my bones. Butter knife trick is genius, I wish I'd thought of that instead of almost freezing my fingers off.