Girl Trapped in Washing Machine Survives....

rockin'robin

rockin'robin

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Lamar, MO- A young southwest Missouri girl is safe and sound after being trapped inside a running washing machine.

It took two Lamar Police Department officers to rescue her from the locked machine.

Seven year old Chloe Crowe is lucky to be alive.

She and her seventeen year old sister just went to do laundry, but what unfolded will surely change both their lives.

"They had put money in the washer and they noticed it wasn't working, so they took all their clothes out," says sister Amanda Crowe.

But later chloe climbed inside that first washer.

"They thought it wasn't working so my little sister was thinking, 'well, it's not going to work, so I'm just going to play around and get in there' but it worked. And now she's hurt really bad."

The front loading washer locked and began filling with water as soon as the door was shut.

Police had to use an Asp knight stick to break the glass and get her out.

"It took 12 minutes, I think, to get her out and she's doing okay, but she's got hundreds of stitches and staples."

Chloe also has two swollen black eyes and lost a lot of blood.

"She doesn't look like my little sister, I know that."

But no brain or lung damage.

"She's talking and she's coherent, so she kinda knows what's going on, so as far as that, she's doing okay."

Her family is pulling together around her.

"I wanted to get sick. My dad just told me, he said, 'I need you to be strong for me because I don't know if I can right now.'"

Once coins are inserted and the door closes, front loading washers lock; there is no stop button that will unlock the latch.

When police arrived on the scene, they had to break the glass on the machine, which was still running.

Crowe was then airlifted to Freeman in Joplin where she is listed in good condition.

Girl Trapped in Washer Survives - FourStatesHomePage.com
 
That's a lucky kid, but I think an adult should have been supervising.
 
I'm suprised that, at 7, the girl would try to play in a washer-and who closed the door? My own front loader has to be closed from outside with a good push. I taught my kids from an early age that we NEVER play in appliances like washers, fridges, ect.
 
springtime said:
I'm suprised that, at 7, the girl would try to play in a washer-and who closed the door? My own front loader has to be closed from outside with a good push. I taught my kids from an early age that we NEVER play in appliances like washers, fridges, ect.
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same.. or the handle has to be turned in order to lock the machine.
 
That's a lot of stitches! :shock:

Why didn't they just unplug the machine?
 
At the end of the story, there were comments made by the 17 yr. old.....it reads as follows: Gives you an idea of "why"....




#4 Amanda 2010-07-25 17:23
That was my little sister. And there is no attendent..my 17 yr old sis was there she turned around for a sec, and when she turned bk around, my other sis was already in the washer..there was no breaker box, no emergency stop button, no way at all to unplug it.. the electrician had to come and cut the outside electricity to the entire building before it would shut off. by that time, my sister was already on her way to the hospital via helicopter. it was an accident.


3 Lizz Wilson 2010-07-23 15:47
There was no adult attending the laundrymat? There's no circuit breaker or emergency procedure in place for the business? No emergency shut-off valve for the water tank? Sounds like a point of inspection policy to me - if there isn't one already, maybe there should be one!



#2 Tedd 2010-07-23 15:32
Lizz,
The plug in's may have been behind the wall of machines to prevent kids from yanking them out. This is common in many laundry facilities.



#1 Lizz Wilson 2010-07-22 14:57
Did anyone think to unplug the machine or cut off power to the machine? Then they could have removed the door without breaking the glass. Wasn't there an emergency shut-off valve somewhere or a circuit breaker? Sounds like this poor girl was nearly killed, and is suffering greatly, because no one thought to unplug the machine!
 
Good to see that she survived

But it's still something of a weird situation--it seems like someone (the older sister) was being a bit irresponsible. I sure hope the rescue didn't leave the girl with additional injuries.
 
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