Mother shares warning after 3-year-old nearly died in locked washing machine

This mother had a harrowing experience after she and her husband replaced their washing machine, and took to social media to warn other parents against the dangers.

Lindsey McIver of Colorado woke up one Sunday morning to realize that her old washing machine had finally given up the ghost. The next day, she and her husband went to replace it, this time opting for a front-loader machine.

They installed the appliance, and hadn't tested it or run it yet when they went to bed that night. Before doing so, they explained to their three children that they must not touch the machine, and all responded that they understood.

But the following morning the couple were woken by their 4-year-old son who was hysterical about something. While it took McIver a moment to realize what her son had said, her husband had understood immediately: "Kloe. Inside. Washer."

Her husband sprang into action as she realized what her son had said, and she went chasing after him towards the laundry room.

When they arrived, their 3-year-old daughter Khloe was locked inside the airtight washing machine, which was busy filling with water and tumbling already. The terrified toddler was screaming, but they couldn't hear her.

Fortunately, they had arrived on the scene fast enough to stop the machine and pull her free before it was too late.

"Aside from a couple of small bumps on her head and wet clothes, she was fine. After going through all the “what if‘s” and “could have’s” we know we are very blessed and God had mercy on our sweet daughter," McIver wrote in her post.

While she had been hesitant to share the story for fear of others blaming her for the incident, McIver eventually decided that it could help save other children from a worse fate than a few bumps on their heads, and that it was a story worth telling.

Her post has since been shared over 325,000 times, and more than 152,000 people have reacted to the lengthy post.

Following the incident, the couple found that the machine has a child lock setting, and encourage all over parents to always keep the childlock attack to their washers at all times.