TRUSSVILLE, Ala. — Some things are better left in the past; not on your head.
That’s what 15-year-old Darby Risner learned when she got stuck in a giant Barney dinosaur head Sunday.
The teen wanted to scare her friends with the mask, but when she was unable to remove it, things took a comically dark turn.
The mask fell down onto her shoulders and stopped just above her elbows when she sat down, giving what Risner called “short little Barney arms.”
“All the girls started trying to pull it off, but it wasn’t budging,” Risner told ABC. “I started getting a little claustrophobic and felt like it was kind of closing in.”
The girls were able to slightly raise the mask with some Vaseline, but they ultimately called the fire department, where one of the girl’s boyfriend worked.
To avoid making a scene, Risner and her mother’s friends drove to the fire station, where firefighters made relief cuts into the fiberglass mask, allowing it to slide off.
“It was definitely amusing, but of course, we had to take it seriously, too,” Trussville Fire Department Lt. Vince Bruno said.
Since the dino debacle, Risner’s mother only learned of the incident Monday. “When my girlfriend told me, ‘So did you hear about Darby’s little adventure?’ I was a little worried at first,” Shannon Risner said. “But when I found out it was all about the Barney head, I laughed so hard. All the mascara ran off my face.”
Risner has taken the incident with stride, and has learned to laugh about it.