Her daughter’s 15-year-old friend Darby Risner jokingly put on the Barney head, which the Selfs had acquired after their church was getting rid of things no longer in use.
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She soon found out it was an idea that sounded better in theory, when she got trapped in the giant Barney head. Her pastor reportedly purchased the purple dinosaur costume several years ago, but had lost the bodysuit. The girl spotted the Barney head that her pastor had bought several years ago and made a decision to put it on in an effort to scare her friends when they saw her.
The Barney head is partially made of fiberglass, and Darby began to swell a bit, which made it even more hard to remove it.
But as she was waiting the head slipped down over her shoulders, trapping her inside.
She managed to get a laugh out of her pals, but when she tried to take off the costume, she realized she was stuck. “It was digging into her”.
“The head was closing in on me”.
Her mum – while very concerned about her daughter’s safety – admitted that it was pretty amusing.
Risner told ABC News she sat down with the head on and it “wobbled and scooched down” over her shoulders, becoming stuck just above the elbows and leaving her with “short little Barney arms”. “It was hilarious. She couldn’t see, so they had to guide her”.
Shannon called the Trussville fire department and the firefighters were eventually able to free her by making a few cuts around Barney’s head with tin snips. The emergency crew insisted that the sirens are standard protocol, so Risner’s family took matters into their own hands and drove the girl to the fire station.
Trussville Fire Lieutentant Vince Brunotold told AL.com: “When they walked in, you couldn’t help but start laughing”.
Her friends tried to push and pull, but no luck.
Darby had a few bruises on her arms, but was fine otherwise.
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Almost an hour later, firefighters were able to remove the Barney head and laugh about the once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.
