Alabama firefighters help teen remove giant Barney costume head

It took longer than expected, but Alabama firefighters Sunday were able to rescue a trapped 15-year-old girl.

According to AL.com, Trussville firefighters were asked to help Darby Risner because her head was stuck inside the giant, plush head of Barney the dinosaur.

"The head was closing in on me,'' Darby told the paper. “It was like a stuck-in-a-small-place-and-can't-get-out-panicking."

AL.com reported that Darby and her friends were at a “spend the night” party after church. The girl spotted the Barney head that her pastor had bought several years ago and decided to put it on in an effort to scare her friends when they saw her.

Aubrey Shannon, Darby's mother, told AL.com that as Darby was waiting for all of them, the head slipped down past her shoulders and was digging into her. Darby’s friends and a parent tried to slip the girl out of the head, but it wouldn’t move.

After Darby started to feel sick, the parents called up the Trussville Fire Department and asked if they could help with their dilemma. However, the parents didn’t want the fire department to come down to the house with their sirens blaring. Emergency personnel said they had to use the sirens if the responded to the home.

Darby, her friends and a couple of parents decided to go down to the fire station instead.

Trussville Fire Lt. Vince Bruno told AL.com that they couldn’t help but laugh when the group scurried into the fire station.

“When they walked in, you couldn't help but start laughing,'' Bruno said. "We tried to be professional, and she was a little distraught, but we had to giggle about it."

The firefighters at first couldn’t even help out because the head was on so tight and the girl was so small that when they tried to lift the head of the girl, the girl would lift off the ground too.

Bruno, a 33-year firefighting veteran, said they made cuts to the back of the head to relieve the pressure and remove Darby from the head.

"It was such a relief,'' Darby said. “I have laughed about it."

According to WTVM-TV, Darby only suffered some bruises on her arms.

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