A toddler was locked in a front-loading washing machine as it began to fill with water and, while the child escaped the harrowing experience unharmed, her story has been widely shared on social media.
The incident took place on Tuesday morning in Colorado.
Kloe McIver, 3, had been playing in the laundry room with her 4-year-old brother when she got locked inside the washer while it was tumbling and filling with water, said their mother Lindsey McIver said in a post to Facebook.
"We were woken up by our four-year-old son who was crying so hard he could barely talk," the mother said, explaining that her husband, Alan McIver "flew out of bed and down the stairs" when he heard their son say "Kloe. Inside. Washer."
Lindsey McIver said they were able to stop the washing machine and get Kloe out before she was hurt.
"We secured the door shut with a child safety lock," the distraught mother said in her post. "We also found a child lock feature on the settings that, as long as it is engaged, will not allow the washing machine to start. But it does not lock the door."
According to USA Today, Lindsey McIver said that she "did not want to slander the washing machine manufacturer, LG, "but at some point, we'd like to propose they add a feature so the door locks."
The company responded to the incident by encouraging people to use the child safety lock feature available on all its washing machines and dryers, however, McIver suggested a permanent lock on the door for before the washing machine is started.
Lindsey McIver had to live every mother’s horror but fortunately her daughter was not seriously harmed. Other children have not been so lucky.
In 2012, a 1-year-old Oregon boy drowned after he climbed into a top-loading washer while his mother was doing the washing, The Deseret News reported.
In 2010, a similar tragedy struck in Oklahoma when a new mom accidently put her 10-day-old baby into a top-loading washing machine along with a pile of laundry, The Telegraph said.
The mom only discovered the body of her baby 40 minutes later when she opened the washing machine door.
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