Firefighters help boy stuck in bucket swing

MALVERN, Ark. (FOX 5 Atlanta) - All good things must come to an end. That’s especially true as children outgrow certain activities on the playground.

A 10-year-old boy learned that the hard way during a recent trip to a Malvern, Arkansas playground. Javon, like most kids, enjoys using the swings, but he might have wanted to not try a bucket swing, designed for infants and toddlers, during his trip to the park this past weekend.

"It looked a lot bigger from when I was standing up," said Javon, in a cell phone video showing him stuck in a bucket swing. "Every time I swung it got tighter on my knees and my legs."

His mother, Brittany Cross, said Jarvon was at the park Saturday for a friend’s birthday party. She couldn’t help but pull her cell phone out to document the scene as firefighters were pulling up.

"The first they did was the dishwashing liquid. They lathered him up real good and it wouldn't come out anywhere," Cross said.

Firefighters changed methods when they could get Javon out of the tight squeeze. Crews switched to bolt cutters, removing the swing from its chains and placing the boy on his back on a nearby bench. Thankfully, they were eventually able to free him.

"They tried to hold back their laughter till everything was done," Cross said. "They were real cool about it."

Cross said her family can laugh about it now thanks to Javon being okay, but she knows it could have been worse.

"Typical Javon, nothing new," she said. "I think we're done with birthday parties for a while."

As for Javon, he hopes his little adventure serves as a cautionary tale for others and added his own warning.

"Good luck trying to get out," he said.

No word on replacing the bucket swing.

FOX 5 News reported on this story from Atlanta