Prank gone wrong leaves Alabama teen trapped in oversized Barney head

ALABAMA (WPVI) -- A 15-year-old Alabama girl had to be rescued by firefighters after she got her head stuck inside a giant Barney costume in a prank gone wrong.

Darby Risner said she wanted to scare her friends with the oversized Barney head when they came downstairs. She managed to scare her friends, but in an unexpected way.

Risner ended up stuck inside the Barney head, she told WVTM-TV.

"What had happened was, like, at the point it was on my head I had no idea that it was gonna get stuck or anything," she said.

Her friends tried pulling the head off, but it wouldn't budge even after they rubbed Vaseline on her arms to get some slip. After failed attempts, they eventually called the fire department for help. So as not to alarm neighbors, Risner and her friends drove to the fire station instead.

Lt. Vince Bruno told ABC News that the sight of a girl waddling into the station with a giant Barney head was a first in his 33-year career at the department.

"When she first got there, we looked at it and it was tight coming down around her shoulders and holding her arms, looked kind of like dinosaur arms because she could bend from the elbows down. It was a little comical," he said.

While he said it was definitely amusing, firefighters took her situation seriously and helped her out. Firefighters spent about 45 minutes making a few cuts to release Risner from the head.

Bruno said the firefighters, Risner and her friends all had a good laugh after the incident and that it will be a story to tell for generations.

Risner's mom didn't learn about her daughter's mishap until the next morning. She said she was a little worried at first but when she learned it was all over a Barney head, she laughed so hard mascara was running down her face.