A curious 2-year-old found himself stuck inside a crane game at a recreation center in Missouri, but he seemed completely at ease, playing with a ball as help arrived.
Margaret King was at the Webster Groves Soccer Dome on February 7, keeping an eye on her older son while her little one, Cooper, toyed with the crane game’s controls. Just for a moment, she looked away. “I literally glanced over there, and he was pretending to play,” she shared.
But soon after turning back, she heard a startling scream and spotted Cooper inside the game.
Surprisingly, the toddler appeared unaffected, even as adults hurried to help him, his mother noted.
“Anyone who knows Cooper would totally get why he’d do something like this,” King remarked.
Cooper laughed and tossed a ball around. When they urged him to step back, he just shook his head.
Though King found her son safe, retrieving him proved tricky, leading her to call 911.
Emergency responders came quickly, but Cooper remained inside until a vending company employee arrived with the keys.
For about 20 minutes, the little boy was in the machine, attracting curious onlookers who took photos and videos that spread widely on social media.
One popular clip shows Cooper grinning and playing with a stuffed toy while paramedics searched for a way to release him.
After the incident, King jokingly commented about how she never anticipated him getting stuck. She also noted the viral video prompted some online observers to question why a claw wasn’t employed to get him out.
“I thought about mentioning that I didn’t have enough change because he spent it all,” she laughed. “In today’s world, we need humor, and what’s funnier than a toddler enjoying a crane game?”
