This is the moment a drunken teenager sparked a 999 rescue – after getting stuck in a HIGHCHAIR when a prank went wrong.
Amber Jackson, 19, was partying with friends when they dared her to pose for a picture in the toddler seat.
She climbed into the metal-framed seat but her legs became wedged – and was forced to call the emergency services after developing severe pins and needles.
[half]
[/half]
[half]
[/half]
Firefighters used specialist cutting equipment to free Amber, who was initially unable to stand up because of blood loss in her legs.
Amber, of Hove, East Sussex, said: “People have been saying they think I’m stupid but I was drunk.
“I do not think it was funny that fire engines were called and I do feel bad.
“But when I was that drunk I did not think about the consequences or what would happen.
“I thought my friends would get me out. They tried pulling it but I just couldn’t get out.
“I do wish I didn’t do it but when you look back it is funny.”
Crews were called to a property at Goldstone Villas in Hove at 11.45pm on Sunday and the rescue took about 15 minutes.
After being released Amber, who is unemployed, needed help standing up as the circulation to her legs had been limited.
She said: “I phoned the ambulance at first as I did not know who I needed and they told me to phone back for the fire.
“They had to cut it off as my leg was swelling up.
“I don’t normally get stuck in things, although I did get my hand stuck in a jam jar the next day.
“At least I could get out the jam jar; I couldn’t get out of the high chair.”
Mark Rist, head of operations at East Sussex Fire and Rescue, put the incident down to “youthful exuberance”.
“She was quite clearly stuck in and was not going to get without the help of fire crews,” he said.
“She was reported to be having a party and it was all quite chirpy. It probably came about out of youthful exuberance.
“She was stuck for some time and they did not have the tools to deal with it.
“We’re certainly not classifying it as a hoax call.”
East Sussex Fire Authority, standard fire brigade call-outs cost #250 per hour but Mr Rist said the cost of this is “minimal”.
He said: “There is a full-time cost of being on duty anyway.
“Crews were not diverted away from any other call and at that time on a Sunday a night they would not be doing any training.”
But some locals criticised Amber for wasting public funds.
Mick Hepworth wrote on a local website said: “I hope she’s sent a hefty bill from East Sussex Fire and Rescue for wasting time.
“Idiots like this should be named and shamed.”
