[Ammi]

Rebecca Busch was already nervous about her daughter Samantha's trip to the Grand Canyon.

But her anxiety went through the roof when the 22-year-old texted a photograph of herself plunging into the enormous abyss.


The incredible image was actually an elaborate rouse designed to wind up her overprotective mother - in reality, Ms Busch was stood firmly on a ledge as her boyfriend took the snap

But Mrs Busch, of Westmont, Illinois, took the bait, claiming the shot nearly gave her a heart attack, and now the prank has gone viral after it was posted on Reddit.

'For five days up to when we left, my mom had warned me about falling off the cliff or being blown off,' Ms Busch told ABCNews.com

'So when we were hiking around the corner, I found a good spot where I could stand on the ledge. (My boyfriend) angled the camera just right and he took a great picture.'

But Mrs Busch and all her co-workers didn't see the funny side

'I messaged it to her first and she works for a medical auditing company and there are women who have known me since day one, and they freaked out over it also,' Ms Busch said.

'I emailed it to them, too, and they were all freaking out over it saying I gave them a heart attack.'

To make the prank more believable, the 22-year-old switched off the GPS locator on her cell phone so she couldn't be tracked.

'I work for her, so constantly every single day we communicate over work stuff

Ms Busch told the TV station. 'So for the whole week I decided not to let her know where I'm at. I had to give her some practice to not know where I am every day.'

With the caption, 'Mom was worried about my trip to the Grand Canyon, I sent her this picture,' Ms Busch uploaded the spoof photograph to Reddit and it went viral immediately.

She said her mom had now calmed down and forgiven her for getting her pulse racing.

'She's fine. She wasn't even angry. She was just relieved,' the young woman said.

But, despite the reaction, she insisted the prank wouldn't be her last.

'There's no end to my pranking,' Ms Busch told ABC