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A man sent TikTok users into hysterics after revealing the unusual reason why he was temporarily trapped in his second-floor apartment.

When Elijah Menchaca heard construction going on outside, he assumed it was happening near his home in Kentucky. However, when he pulled down the blinds and looked outside, he was horrified to see that the construction was actually happening on his building and that the stairs leading up to his apartment had completely disappeared.

Menchaca had no idea about this in advance, as the property management had sent an email to his roommate. He was certainly surprised that there was suddenly no escape route and said Newsweek that the thought of being trapped in his own home was “a wild experience.”

Unable to leave the house and go anywhere else, Menchaca shared his incredible ordeal online on TikTok (@phoenixagent003). In the footage, a large drop can be seen where the stairs would normally be, and Menchaca joked that he was “stranded” until they were eventually recovered.

The video, posted on May 21, made social media users laugh and garnered more than 2.7 million views and over 248,800 likes on TikTok.

“The reactions were interesting, because many people expressed their sympathy, others Ed, Edd and Eddy references,” said Menchaca. “But The Sims Jokes were my personal favorites.

“Many people asked me to take legal action. I understand that, but I also don’t think the benefit/effort ratio is worth it. It was definitely an interesting few hours, but ultimately nothing really went wrong during that time.”

The original staircase was removed as it was quite old and it was obviously time for a replacement. After a few hours of waiting and wondering when he would be able to leave the house again, Menchaca was delighted to finally see the new staircase being installed later that day.

Although he posted about the situation online to pass the time and downplay the unexpected ordeal, Menchaca never expected his clip to go viral and garner so much attention. As it turns out, TikTok users were interested, and many were eager to find out what happened afterward.

Much to their delight, Menchaca shared a follow-up video explaining that the stairs were replaced later that same day and he was no longer trapped in his house. He even gave people a first look at the new stairs, which were worth the wait.

When Menchaca joked on TikTok that “they took my stairs,” he probably didn’t expect millions of people to care, let alone that his video would generate over 5,500 comments. Many people asked a lot of questions about the logistics, while others were quick to poke fun at the situation.

One comment reads: “How does your roommate get home?”

Another person wrote: “I sometimes feel like The Sims becomes so real, like when you wake up and suddenly the stairs are gone.”

Another commenter joked: “Sounds like someone is playing Sims with your life.”

And one TikToker replied: “Please send us some food via DoorDash and tell us how they deliver it!”

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