A South Carolina grandmother has shared footage of the moment her son was forced to get seriously creative to open the family’s locked car.
Angie Royal’s birthday didn’t go exactly to plan this year; nature had other ideas. Royal had been hoping to enjoy a birthday to remember in the company of her son Taylor, his wife, and her five grandkids.
“We weren’t able to really celebrate,” Royal told Newsweek. “My birthday was two days after Hurricane Helene tore through here, leaving all of us without power for several days.”
Helene was the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. since Katrina in 2005, with satellite pictures showing the devastating level of destruction.
At least 225 people lost their lives in the wake of the hurricane, with more than 1 million Americans left without power for days.
Royal was among that number but escaped otherwise unscathed. Though she might not have had the birthday she had been planning, her son Taylor, his wife, Savannah, and their five kids made sure she was safe and in good company by having her stay over during those difficult days.
“The day of my birthday, all the grandbabies met me at the door with toys of their own in their hands. Each telling me it was my ‘birfday present’ until they could go to the store,” Royal said.
“Then they sat in chairs in front of me and strummed their little play guitars, singing ‘Happy Birthday to Nana’ over and over and over. I didn’t need a fancy cake or a party … I was with the babies! That was more than enough!”
After a couple of days with no power, surviving on food cooked over a fire pit in her son’s backyard, it was decided things had calmed down sufficiently that they could take Royal for a “little birthday bonus” dinner.
“My daughter-in-law’s parents wanted to take us all out to eat to get everyone out of the house awhile,” Royal said. “With no power for days, you can imagine how stir-crazy everyone was.”
There was just one problem, though. When they went to get in the family minivan, Taylor discovered to his horror that they were locked out. “The van has been glitching and self-locking,” Royal said.
Angie Royal’s grandson Benjamin fits perfectly through the gap. The 5-year-old’s intervention saved the day.
@angieroyal803
There was one slither of hope, though: the slither of an open window in the back of the van that was just enough of a gap for someone slight to fit through.
That someone slight ended up being Benjamin, Royal’s 5-year-old grandson and the second-eldest of Taylor’s five kids, who jumped at the chance to be the hero.
“We were heading to Dave & Busters to eat and let the kids play in the arcade awhile,” Royal said. “I suppose that’s why Benjamin was so adamant about being so quick. But it wasn’t the first time he’s had to do it either.”
This was the first time Royal had seen this particular trick, though, so she didn’t hesitate in picking up her phone and hitting record to capture a video of the daring family break-in for posterity.
“Who needs a locksmith?” Royal can be heard saying as she laughs away on the video, which has been watched more than 7.4 million times since being uploaded to TikTok under the handle @angieroyal803.
“It was the first time I saw it, which is why I got so tickled. I still laugh watching it,” Royal said. The good news is that Benjamin was successful in unlocking the car, and the family enjoyed a well-earned dinner together.
Royal has been blown away by the response to the clip. “I honestly posted it because I thought, at a time when this world is so full of sadness and struggle, people could use a laugh to brighten their days,” she said.
However, Royal added that it is just one example of the way in which her family never fails to lift her spirits through the darkest of days. “All my grandbabies keep me in stitches laughing. They are all hilarious,” she said. “They keep me going; they are my heartbeats!”
