Mum stuck in baby swing for over an hour forced to be cut free by firefighters

30 July 2023 , 15:38

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Leala didn't plan on being in the swing longer than 10 minutes - but she was in it for an hour (Image: Kimberley Crane / SWNS)

A mum had to be rescued from a baby swing by firefighters who cut her out - after she was stuck for an hour.

Leala Vanbest decided to have some fun of her own when she took her daughter and her friends to the local park in Southend, Essex. She jumped in and had a swing for 10 minutes - but then realised she couldn’t get out.

Leala, 22, says she couldn’t stop laughing as she tried to squeeze herself out of the baby seat. Friends and strangers tried to hoist her out, but Leala had thoroughly wedged herself into the seat.

After they gave up and phoned the fire brigade, it took only ten minutes for four firefighters to arrive - sirens blaring, lights flashing and in full fire crew uniform. The laughing firefighters kept “cracking jokes” as they cut Leala out of her new seat.

The brilliant footage shows three firefighters dismantling the swing after they too fail to pull her out. “I was stuck there for about an hour,” customer services worker Leala recalls, “it was very, very funny”.

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Leala was helpless as the firefighters figured out how to cut her free (Kimberley Crane / SWNS)

The firefighters had to dismantle half the swing to get Leala out (Kimberley Crane / SWNS)

"Everyone was looking and laughing, and then when the fire engine arrived people started opening their doors to look too - I just couldn't stop laughing. The firemen just kept cracking jokes too.” Pictures show three kitted-out firefighters kneeling in different positions as they figure out how to get Leala out - as she looks on helplessly, unable to move.

"I don't know why I even got in the swing, I just walked over to it, and I wasn't really thinking. It really hurt when everyone was trying to pull me out, and I have some bad bruises on my hips now,” said Leala. The fire crew fully detached the swing from the chains, before taking the base off the seat and turning the bars so Leala could squeeze out. "It was good to be free again,” said Leala, “but there were loads of kids with only one swing left".

Alex Croft