Girl Trapped In Washing Machine Rescued By Mom In Okanogan

Typically, parents have to fight to get their kids to wash up, but here's a story of a mom using force to get her child out of the suds.

A Washington mom cracked open a running washing machine to rescue her 5-year-old daughter who'd gotten trapped inside at a Laundromat in Okanogan on Saturday, according to The Wenatchie World.

A sign said the machine was "out of order," according to The World and it's unclear if the girl climbed in herself or was put inside the malfunctioning machine.

But somehow the child got trapped inside and the machine turned on, despite claims from employees that it wasn't working earlier in the day.

The 29-year-old mom, thinking fast, ran to her car, retrieved a wrenched and shattered the window on the washer to pull her child out, the Okanogan County sheriff's office said. according to the Associated Press.

The spin cycle was rough ride for the girl who had a 10-inch gash in her back and the mom suffered some cuts and scrapes from the shards of broken glass, the World said. The girl was treated at a nearby hospital.

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Comments

[Ossit]

01:28 AM on 11/13/2011

She was lucky. Glad she didn't get stuck in the dryer.

[DeeperLove]

06:09 PM on 11/10/2011

Thank goodness.

[minerva117]

10:45 AM on 11/10/2011

I dunno, this sounds a little hinky.........I was just at a laundromat yesterday and in order to close the door on the front loaders, you have to push in the button while turning the handle........someone did this to the child on purpose.

[Shuart24]

12:13 PM on 01/02/2012

Not necessarily. Front loaders at my dorm can be open and closed without any extra latches. If the machine was out of order then an improper cycle could have started.

[p c r]

09:16 AM on 11/10/2011

A seven year old boy put his 4 year old sister in a washer and started it in my area a few years back. She died.
This girl was lucky. It will be interesting to find out from the girl exactly how she got trapped inside and it started.

[Lisa Del Fante]

12:17 AM on 11/10/2011

Reminds me of that CSI episode 4x4 when that kid put his friend in a washing machine.

[Ossit]

01:29 AM on 11/13/2011

It was the dryer I think.

[txsweetheart20]

10:54 AM on 11/09/2011

The laundry mat I go to when I need to wash my comforters has the front loading washers but in order to close the and lock the door you have to turn the handle down, close the door, turn it up again and it locks. Plus you cant just stop it, it has to finish the cycle. And that picture on top is not a washer that is a dryer. At least at the laundry mat I use this is what the dryers look like.

[nanaofmysky]

10:42 AM on 11/09/2011

What a terrible thing to happen to a child The child wasjust being a child. Into everything, checking everything out. The mother really acted fast in getting her out. She could have been killed! The door could have been bumped closed and then the machine could have started. The laundrey mat should have made sure the machine could not be accested. Just glad she is ok. Don't think she will clime into another machine..

[Kelly Groves Scott]

10:42 AM on 11/09/2011

Mom probably stuck her in the machine so she wouldn't have to chase her around & then was shocked when it suddenly started up.

[libbyejansen]

04:00 AM on 11/09/2011

I have to ask how did that child manage to close the door all the way? there is nothing to grab onto from the inside of the door in all the public laudry machines I've ever used.

[OhKarii]

01:33 AM on 11/09/2011

I was just at a laundry mat recently and yes they have bottom loader washers that a kid could climb into. Also someone had not used all their time so when I shut the door it started up again without me having to put money in. Anyone with kids should know you turn away for a second and something could happen. I think its ridiculous people are trying to say she was a bad mom or that she watched someone put her child in there? Point of the story is she rushed and got the child out. The child is alive and that is the point.

[lita m]

03:20 AM on 11/09/2011

Bottom loader? I'm guessing that you mean front loader. If not, I'd like to see what that machine looks like.

[Shyla22]

08:52 AM on 11/09/2011

As in front loader washing machines stacked on top of each other... bottom washer is low enough for a child. Unless you're just being a smarty-pants, lol

[brandonissloan]

05:06 PM on 11/09/2011

Sounds reasonable, but the one i have would be hard to shut from the inside, nothing to grab on, this one may be different though.

[OhKarii]

06:20 PM on 11/09/2011

Idk a lot of laundry mats are different so not sure

[lenoch14]

01:29 AM on 11/09/2011

Just another example of parent behavior which is totally unacceptable to the most of us

[mebemommee06]

09:36 AM on 11/09/2011

and I bet your not a parent, so you have no idea..

[E Linn]

02:28 PM on 11/09/2011

Acting quickly to get her child out of this dangerous situation is bad parenting? I hate to break it to you, but children can get themselves into trouble in .5 seconds. A good parent isn't one who prevents her child from getting into any dangerous situations 100% of the time, a good parent is one who has quick reflexes and thinking to minimize the damage.

[Steve68112]

01:05 AM on 11/09/2011

Scary. "Help! I'm agitated and I can't get out!"

[NightShayde]

01:29 AM on 11/09/2011

I'd be "agitated" as well, if I was stuck in a washing machine.

In more ways than one.

[Eileen Gavitt Lester]

01:01 AM on 11/09/2011

Why was the mother not watching the child? And since when can't you open a washing machine if it's running? How did it the door close? How did it start up? Confused here.......

[libbyejansen]

04:12 AM on 11/09/2011

Most front loading washing machines automatically lock the door when in operation to prevent some person from opening the door and flooding the floor. as for how the door got closed I can only say from the machines I've used there is nothing to grasp from the inside, if it did the clothes would hang up on it they tumble clothes the same way a dryer does, so unless it was slamed open and bouned off of a surface and the girl flew inside in a second or less. someone closed it on her. Can't say anything about the mother. I would guess either it had money from a previous attempt to use it and when it didn't operate they used another machine instead leaving the money in the machine that was set to operate, or (horrorfying) someone turned it on deliberately.

[ccpe017]

12:56 AM on 11/09/2011

WHERE THE HELL WAS THE MOTHER?? HOW DO YOU NOT SEE YOUR CHILD GET INTO A WASHING MACHINE? MY BET IS THAT SHE PUT HER IN THERE...STRANGER AND DUMBER THINGS HAPPEN IN THE WORLD. SHE WAS PROBABLY TRYING TO GET A CASE SO SHE COULD SUE THEM.

AH, THE STUPIDITY OF THE WORLD

[libbyejansen]

04:13 AM on 11/09/2011

if that is the case stupidity isn't the word I'ld use.

[flxdcatbruce]

12:24 AM on 11/09/2011

The child first would have had to climb into it (she could get into a bottom loader) then have the strength to shut the door tight before the machine could operate. The machine will not operate unless a coin of token is inserted first. If the machine was in the spin cycle, by the time the mother went to the car and back.....the childs chance of surviving would have been slim. This story has a few holes in it.