Every parent's nightmare probably involves a small child and a washing machine. Imagine turning your eyes for a moment, looking back, and suddenly catching sight of something tumbling over and over inside the washing machine -- something that looks like your kid! That's reportedly what happened in Pasadena, Texas, when a 5-year-old managed to crawl into a high-speed washing machine and tumbled around for several minutes on the spin cycle before anyone noticed.
It's unclear how the young girl ended up in the washing machine, but police say she was "tumbling pretty fast in there." Luckily, someone who walked by "saw something flopping around" and at first thought it was a dress, but then realized it was a child! I can't imagine the panic that immediately set in.
A woman had just gotten a refund on that particular machine, which wasn't working, so it's a little baffling how the machine managed to start up with the child inside. On the other hand, it's amazing you don't hear about this more often, what with a child's natural curiosity about enclosed areas and washing machines being a dangerous combination.
Police won't reveal where the parents were or who was watching the child, but reportedly the cops clearly placed the blame on the fact that the child wasn't being minded well enough.
"You've got to watch your kids. That's the bottom line," Vance Mitchell of Pasadena Police told KHOU.
The child has "extensive" injuries and is in the hospital but is expected to recover. She must have been so completely terrified in there. Something she will never, ever forget, that's for sure.
Have you ever seen your child try to crawl in a washing machine?
Image via KHOU