Margaret King via Storyful
NEED TO KNOW
Meg King's son Cooper became trapped inside a claw machine in Missouri on Saturday, Feb. 7
She had "glanced" away for just seconds when Cooper, 2, climbed inside to play with the toy balls
"We were like 'Cooper, try to go back down,' and he was just shaking his head," said King of the incident
A toddler was rescued from inside a claw machine after somehow climbing inside to play while at a recreational center in Missouri.
On Saturday, Feb. 7, Meg King brought her two-year-old son, Cooper, to the Soccer Dome in Webster Grove to watch his brother play. She told local news outletFirst Alert 4that she briefly looked away while Cooper was pretending to play with a claw machine.
Moments later, she heard someone yelling that he had somehow gotten inside and was playing with the toy balls.
"If anyone knew my son Cooper, they would totally understand that he would do something like this," said King, per First Alert 4. "I literally glanced over there. He was pretending to play with the claw machine. I looked away for, I would say, maybe 15 seconds."
Margaret King via Storyful
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King said Cooper was "laughing" and "throwing balls everywhere," while blissfully unaware that he had gotten himself trapped inside the device.
She rushed to call 911 after trying and failing to guide Cooper on how to climb out of the machine.
"We were like 'Cooper, try to go back down,' and he was just shaking his head," King told First Alert 4.
Officers from the local police and fire department arrived at the scene within minutes. However, it wasn't until someone who worked for the vending company showed up with a key that Cooper was released from the machine.
Margaret King via Storyful
Footage and photos shared online show Cooper playing with the toys inside the claw machine as first responders were stumped about how to get him out. He appeared "perfectly fine, safe and having a ball," King told Storyful.
Since going viral on social media, King said commenters have asked why she didn't try to use the claw to get Cooper out of the machine.
"I was going to comment back that I didn't have enough change since he used it all," she joked, per First Alert 4.
"In today's world, everyone needs someone funny on their TV and what's not funny about a 2-year-old playing in a claw machine?" King concluded.
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