Mum claims toddler almost killed by exploding washing machine which left chunk of finger 'hanging off'
A mum has said that her toddler almost died after their washing machine 'exploded' and left him with part of his finger 'hanging off'.
Amie McCarthy said she had just filled her washing machine last Wednesday (9 October) when she heard an almighty bang and saw that the machine's glass door had burst.
It had sent pieces of glass across her utility room, with some of them cutting her 15-month-old son Brodie.
The toddler was cut several times, sustaining injuries to his eye, neck, arms, hands and feet.
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Liverpool woman Amie, 29, said she almost passed out when she was her son's finger was 'hanging on by a thread' after the accident and rushed him to Alder Hey Hospital.
The one-year-old went in for an operation to reattach the tip of his finger and may need a skin graft in the future.
The boy's mum said her washing machine wasn't overloaded or overheated and wants the manufacturer to investigate it so it doesn't happen again.
She said: "I started clearing up as I normally do, put a wash on, I walked into the kitchen and Brodie followed me into the kitchen. The washing machine is in like a mini conservatory separate to the kitchen.
"I was only a few feet away but around the corner. He never normally watches the washing machine. The machine must've only gone round about two or three times when I heard the glass shatter dead loud. It sounded like it was a window.
"I turned around, Brodie was to my left, and he was covered in blood. It was dripping all over him. He was screaming and crying.
"I thought there was a bit of glass stuck in his finger, but it was actually skin. And that's when I nearly fainted. As I picked him up, that's when I saw the glass all over the floor. The whole door was completely smashed."
According to his mum the top of Brodie's finger 'will be numb for the rest of his life now', but a consultant told her things could have been even worse if he'd been struck elsewhere on the body by the shards of glass.
She said she'd only had her washing machine for 16 months after her nan bought it for her and wants to know what's to be done if it is 'faulty'.
"They know what happened and I haven't had an apology or anything," Amie said of the washing machine company.
"The load didn't have anything metal in it, I didn't overload it, I didn't touch it and the baby didn't touch it, it wasn't too hot because it was a quick wash so there must've been something wrong with the glass.
"I think it could be a fault with that washing machine. [The company] need to look into it, it can't be safe. You never think your washing machine is going to do that."
The mum added that she also has a five-month-old in the house, who 'would've had no chance' if she'd been in the path of the glass shards.
Joe Harker