Getting stuck in a claw machine full of stuffed toys could be terrifying ... but not for this 2-year-old, who became trapped inside a game at a Missouri recreation center. And then kept on having the time of his life.
Cooper King got stuck inside the claw machine but remained unfazed, playing with a ball as rescuers worked to free him.
Cooper's mother, Margaret King, said she took her eyes off him for maybe 15 seconds at the Soccer Dome in Webster Grove when he somehow wriggled himself inside the arcade crane game.
“If anyone knew my son Cooper, they would totally understand that he would do something like this,” said King.
Despite the situation, Cooper seemed calm and playful inside the machine, laughing and throwing balls around. His mother, and others on the scene, kept trying to convince him to climb out the way he got in.
His response? Laughing and shaking his head "no."
A call to 911 quickly brought first responders. But they weren't the ones who freed him.
A vending company worker saved the day by using a key to open the machine after Cooper spent nearly 20 minutes inside it.
Mom Margaret King saw the humor in the situation, saying "who doesn't want to see a 2-year-old laughing inside a claw machine?" After the incident went viral on social media, she responded to some who jokingly questioned why she didn't use the claw mechanism to get Cooper out.
She said she'd run out of change.