Virginia teenager Amari Dancy got stuck inside of a washing machine during a family game of hide-and-seek on Sunday, April 19. The 18-year-old had to be rescued by the fire department, reports NBC News .
Amari was playing hide-and-seek with some of her younger relatives. She told reporters she had already hidden in some of the best places in the house. Amari claims she’d tried hiding under the bed, and they weren’t allowed to go into the basement.
“So, I was like ‘Oh, OK, let’s just hide in the washer machine.”
After climbing inside of the small space, Amari quickly realized that she couldn’t get back out. One of the cousins she was playing with eventually discovered her inside and then called for help. It was one of the adults who ultimately contacted the fire department at around 11 p.m.
The teen’s aunt, Suni Dancy, documented the rescue by the Prince William County Fire and Rescue Department on Instagram . She shared multiple photos of Amari sitting inside of the washing machine and several video clips of the firefighters freeing her.
Suni also filmed the street outside the residence. It appeared that at least three fire trucks had shown up to rescue the teen.
Her Instagram post garnered a lot of attention, and many commenters thought the scenario was funny. A few shared similar anecdotes of silly things they did when they were younger.
“Thats one expensive game of hide and seek,” wrote one person.
Her aunt found the entire thing hilarious, especially since Amari typically doesn’t play with the younger kids.
“So the fire department came in and introduced themselves and then asked her name and what happened. She said, ‘Well, I was playing hide-and-seek,’ and he said, ‘Well, did you win?’” said Suni.
A video of the rescue was shared on Twitter by Fox journalist, Marina Marraco. The footage shows several men from the department working to slowly lift Amari out of the washing machine after removing the top.
Luckily, the teenager wasn’t harmed in the process and says she finds the entire thing humorous now. She said she was most concerned about whether or not they would be able to get her out of the machine, but once she was free, Amari just felt relieved.
“I mean it’s pretty embarrassing, but all I can do is laugh it off. I had a laugh out of it, my family had a laugh out of it, I’m OK. As long as I’m OK, that’s all that matters to me,” said the teen.
