Girl climbed into washing machine, coroner says
A Christchurch toddler found unresponsive in a front-loader washing machine mid-cycle died in tragic accidental circumstances while playing, a coroner has found.
The 3-year-old girl died in Christchurch Hospital in February 2021 – a day after her mother found her in the washing machine, with the door closed and a cycle running.
The mother called out for help as she tried to open the door. Her father forced the door open.
The girl died of a brain injury from enclosed space asphyxia.
Coroner Alexander Ho ruled on the death on January 19 and the findings have since been released.
He determined the girl climbed into the machine by herself.
The death was not due to criminal wrongdoing or the actions of any adult, nor were her siblings involved, the coroner said. While some contributing scenarios were suppressed, it was possible on this particular machine to press the start button, then shut the door within 12 seconds and a cycle would start – and the door would lock.
A pathologist found the girl might not have survived longer than five minutes in the spinning washing machine, as her oxygen consumption would have risen dramatically.
The family’s laundry room could only be accessed by going outside.
Her mother would usually shut the wash-house door if she had started a wash cycle, to prevent the children from accidentally pausing it, but the door was otherwise left open.
Towards the end of 2020 the family replaced their top loader washing machine with a new Haier 8.5kg front loader with a 25.5kg design limit.
On a day in February 2021 the girl, who weighed 22kg, and some other children were playing at the property while the adults were in the kitchen.
Leading up to the fatal incident, she was seen in a bedroom, the lounge, waving at a passerby at the front gate and on the trampoline.
About 4.45pm adults looked for the girl and called her name. Unusually, she did not respond. Her parents searched around the house, outside and in the car. Her mother checked the wash-house and noticed a light on the washing machine was flashing. She thought this was odd as she had not done any washing.
The washing machine was about half full of still and murky water. She saw something inside the water and, upon looking closer, realised it was her daughter. The girl’s father pulled her out, floppy and with a purple face. He put her on the ground outside and started CPR.
She was taken to Christchurch Hospital where she was resuscitated and stabilised, but because of her significant brain injury, her parents were told it was unlikely she would survive. She deteriorated overnight and died the next day.
Coroner Ho suppressed the girl’s identity. Her death was the first of its kind in New Zealand. However, at least five children aged under age 5 in the United States have died from washing machine-related injuries in the past 15 years.
The coroner said manufacturers should consider preventive settings such as a child lock.
Other precautions included keeping washing machine doors shut, additional safety locks on the outside, shutting off the water when not in use and turning off the master power switch when not in use.