AsiaWireA model was forced to cancel photoshoots after she ran into the door of an escape room while fleeing from a ghost.
Rui Na, 23, asked a friend to accompany her to the escape room as she was ‘too scared’ to go alone, but unfortunately it was this same friend who caused her downfall – literally.
Footage from the room showed one of the staff members, who was dressed as a ghost, making the women jump as they popped out at them. Rui’s friend fell and took the model down with her, causing Rui to hit her head on the wooden doorframe.
Watch the scene unfold here:
On the off chance you’re unaware of the escape room concept, the game forces players to work together to find clues and solve puzzles to eventually escape from the game site.
However, this particular game obviously had an added scare-factor in the form of surprise ghosts and it’s clear the two players weren’t prepared for the shock.
AsiaWireRui, who is from the coastal city of Jinhua in East China’s Zhejiang Province, recalled her experience, saying:
I was supposed to go alone, but I was too scared, so I asked a friend to come with me.
The girl who came with me was scared too. She saw a ghost climbing towards us and started panicking.
She fell over and brought me down with her, then I hit my face against the wooden frame.
The 23-year-old had to go to hospital as a result of the incident and she was left with a large cut on her forehead as well as stitches above her upper lip. Rui claims her livelihood as an online model has been jeopardised by what she believes was an avoidable accident.
AsiaWireThe model claimed the escape room staff failed to contact her for two days after the accident, saying they only got in touch after she shared the footage online.
She said:
They weren’t sincere enough to ask after me immediately after the incident, so what’s the point of reaching out to me now?
They should’ve at least covered the door frame with foam.
It’s such a sharp material. It was an accident waiting to happen.
AsiaWireHowever, the owner of the escape room hit back at the model’s claims, saying they tried to reach out but Rui refused to give them her details. They also argued against Rui’s idea of putting foam around the door because then it ‘wouldn’t be able to close’.
Speaking to local media, they explained:
It’s not that I didn’t try to contact her. I reached out to her friend, but she refused to give me her contact details.
We could’ve discussed liability, and we’d have paid what we were responsible for. Our clients and staff are all insured.
AsiaWireThe owner continued:
Our staff never physically touch our customers. The accident happened because a friend tripped another friend. It’s clear on CCTV.
Also, we couldn’t have put any protection on our door frames because then they wouldn’t be able to close.
And that defeats the point of an escape room, because there would be no room to actually escape from.
Rui shared pictures of her injured face online as a warning to others, though she admitted she had signed a document, presumably some sort of health and safety waiver, before entering the game, so she accepted responsibility for the consequences.
AsiaWireShe wrote:
I’m a model. My face is very important! I’ve had to cancel all my shoots. I admit, I signed before entering the escape room. I bear all responsibility for the consequences.
I’m writing this post as a warning to you all: cherish your lives. Don’t go to escape rooms!
I’m sure I’m not the only victim, and they surely include more important people than me.
Hopefully Rui will make a full and fast recovery so she can get back to modelling, though it’s probably best she avoids going anywhere potentially dangerous with her friend in future.
Disaster.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.