My Toddler Nearly Died When Our Washing Machine Exploded in His Face

Amie McCarthy/Facebook

Toddlers are often underfoot. It’s hard to move around without tripping over them. But there are certain areas where parents assume they are safe. Fifteen-month-old Brodie Davis, should have been safe in his family’s laundry room, but that wasn’t the case.

Instead, he sustained serious injuries after the washing machine exploded in his face. His mother, Amie McCarthy, found him with blood dripping everywhere and a chunk of his finger hanging off. 

The glass portion of her washing machine's door exploded.

McCarthy, a mother of five, had just put a half a load of laundry in the washing machine, when she moved a few feet away, the Daily Mail reported. Then, she heard a loud bang from her utility room. She returned to the laundry room to find that the glass door on the front of her washer had exploded, sending pieces of glass flying across the room. Brodie sustained injuries to his eye, neck, arms, hands, and feet. McCarthy nearly passed out at the sight.

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'The tip of his finger was hanging on by a thread,' McCarthy said.

Thankfully, she was able to compose herself. McCarthy rushed her son to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, England. When they arrived, Brodie immediately went into surgery to reattach the top of his finger. While the procedure was successful, Brodie will likely experience numbness on that part of his finger for the rest of his life.

“The skin had started dying by then so they were trying to save the skin. They reattached the finger. And we still don’t know if he might need another operation for a skin graft. ‘The tip of his finger was hanging on by a thread. They don’t know if the skin will carry on dying and he would need a skin graft where they would take skin from his thigh,” the mom explained.

McCarthy said the washing machine was only 16 months old.

But for the long road of recovery that might be ahead, McCarthy is aware that the incident could have been much worse. “The consultant told us it could’ve been a lot worse because of the size of the glass pieces. Imagine if that had gone into his jugular. The tip of his finger will be numb for the rest of his life now.”

Now, McCarthy has filed a complaint with the manufacturer of the washing machine she says she’s only had for 16 months.

'Brodie could have easily died that day,' McCarthy said.

“They need to look into it,” she said. “It can’t be safe. You never think your washing machine is going to do that … Brodie could have easily died that day.” McCarthy claims that the washing machine was not overloaded or overheated. She wants the manufacturer to investigate the matter to make sure it doesn’t happen to another child.