‘The pump’s gonna hit my car’: Giant inflatable pumpkin breaks loose from a North Carolina farm and rolls toward traffic
The pumpkin had places to be.
A giant inflatable pumpkin took an unexpected trip down a North Carolina road after strong winds sent the Halloween decoration rolling away from a nearby farm. The runaway gourd startled drivers, with one motorist caught on video reacting as it moved toward his car.
The incident happened as people headed to Phillips Farms for its annual Pumpkinfest event. According to UPI, the massive decoration broke free from its tethers and rolled onto a nearby roadway.
Daniel Wester was driving with his wife and their 3-month-old daughter when he spotted the pumpkin coming around a corner. Video of the encounter, shared by Phillips Farms on TikTok, shows the decoration moving toward the vehicle as Wester and his passenger react to the bizarre sight.
The pumpkin was funny until it started rolling toward the car
In footage of the incident, Wester can be heard warning, “It’s gonna hit us!” as the giant orange decoration continues moving toward the vehicle. His concern grows when he notices the pumpkin’s air pump whipping around alongside it.
“The pump’s going to hit my car,” he says in the video. The pumpkin continued rolling down the road as traffic slowed. Another man jumped over a fence and attempted to stop the decoration, but it kept moving.
Wester initially stayed in his vehicle to make sure his infant daughter was safe. “I had to make sure my baby was safe in the car, so I couldn’t stop in the middle of the road,” he shared. He added that he got out to help as soon as he could pull over.
The runaway pumpkin eventually made it home
Wester joined another bystander in stopping the decoration. The two helped deflate the inflatable pumpkin and move it to the farm’s storage shed, bringing its unexpected journey to an end.
Phillips Farms later acknowledged the incident in a social media post, joking that Pumpkinfest had gone “a little off kilter this year” before thanking the people who helped bring the decoration back.
The farm also rewarded the good Samaritans with free admission to the festival. Wester told Storyful that his family had been invited to attend as guests of honor for the weekend.
The incident adds an unexpected chapter to the increasingly elaborate Halloween decorations that appear around the United States each fall. From oversized yard displays like the giant Halloween decorations, to some truly egregious Halloween decorations, seasonal decorations continue to give people plenty to talk about online. Fortunately, the pumpkin was recovered, and the reports did not describe any injuries from the incident.
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