Any parents know that household items like a swimming pool, hot stove, and bathtubs can pose a serious risk to their child. However, one mother just learned the hard way that washing machines can also be extremely dangerous.

Registered nurse Lindsey McIver recently took to social media to warn other parents about the danger that washing machines can pose to their children.

Lindsey still gets chills when she thinks about what could have happened to her 3 year-old daughter Kloe had her 4 year-old son not alerted her to what was happening.

It all started when the family’s washing machine broke down, so Lindsey’s husband went to the store to buy a new front loading washing machine, which was the latest and hottest type of this device.

After installing the device, Lindsey warned her children to never touch it, and she thought they understood. The next morning, however, Lindsey woke up to find her son sobbing. He was so distraught that Lindsey and her husband could not understand what he was saying, but then he said three words that had them running for the washing machine.

“Kloe. Inside. Washer,” the boy said.

When they got to the machine, Lindsey and her husband found Kloe locked inside the airtight washing machine that was tumbling around and around, quickly filling up with water. They could see that she was screaming, but they could not hear her from inside the machine.

“We were able to quickly stop it and unlock the door and get her out,” Lindsey recalled. “Aside from a couple of small bumps on her head and wet clothes, she was fine. After going through all the ‘what if‘s’ and ‘could have’s’ we know we are very blessed and God had mercy on our sweet daughter.”

Lindsey and her husband could not believe that their new washing machine nearly killed their little girl. They have since installed a child safety lock that prevents the washer from starting and the door from locking, and they’re encouraging other parents to do the same.

“I want to encourage anybody who has this type of front loading washing machine and small children, or even grandkids who visit, to lock the door with a child safety lock and always keep the child lock setting on! I realize that there are ways we could’ve prevented this from happening,” Lindsey said. “This is the season for swimming pool accidents and kids being left in hot cars and all sorts of other horrible accidents. And that’s what most of them are. Accidents.”

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