When three-year-old Kali Porter decided she wanted a bouncy ball from the claw machine, she first tried the direct approach, attempting to grab it on her own. But when she couldn’t fit inside the machine herself, she called for backup. That’s how Alivia “Tinky” Porter, Kali’s two-year-old cousin, ended up getting stuck in the claw machine at the Billy Beez fun center in the Destiny USA mall in Syracuse.
Grandmother Jackie Perez said, “Seeing the balls inside the machine was like a trigger for them. It only took one second and they were gone. My grandkids are very adventurous.”
When Kali came to report Alivia’s predicament, Perez was almost impressed. “I thought she might be like halfway stuck. But when we got there her whole body was in it. If someone put a quarter in the machine, they could have used the claw to pick her up.”
Eventually first responders were dispatched, and within ten minutes of arriving on scene, firefighters had pried open the door, retrieved Alivia, and deposited her into her grandmother’s waiting arms. Perez said, “They worked so fast. Everyone was in great spirits. I wasn’t scared at all. When they got Tinky out it was like the firemen won a prize.”
After spending almost fifteen minutes inside the glass claw machine, Perez said that her granddaughter Alivia was still in good spirits. “She hasn’t had any bad reactions. I actually think she enjoyed it.”
Less enthused was Kali. Upon Alivia’s release from the claw machine, Kali had only one question for her cousin: “Where is the ball?”
Possible Preaching Angle:
Sin is attractive and can lure us into embarrassing or dangerous situations if we yield to it. Before we know it, we are trapped. Nevertheless, God is faithful to save and can deliver us from temptations, even those of our own making.
