A Minnesota woman was knocked off her feet and lost consciousness after her washing machine exploded while she was doing laundry, it was reported on Friday.
Sara Van Beck, a mother of five from Freeport, Minnesota, said that she was in her home washing her clothes when she heard a ‘whistling noise’ coming from the laundry room last week.
When she rushed over to investigate, she saw the washing machine ‘shaking’ and ‘howling’ as it neared the end of its spin cycle.
When she bent down to check the machine, a Whirlpool Duet she bought three years ago, she heard an explosion.
‘It sounded like a bomb,’ Van Beck told CBS News. ‘It was so surreal.’
Sara Van Beck, a mother of five from Freeport, Minnesota, said that she was in her home washing her clothes when she heard a ‘whistling noise’ coming from the laundry room last week
When she rushed over to investigate, she saw the washing machine ‘shaking’ and ‘howling’ as it neared the end of its spin cycle
When she bent down to check the machine, a Whirlpool Duet she bought three years ago, she heard an explosion
The explosion flung open the plastic door. Ball bearings then flew out of the machine and hit her in the stomach
The explosion flung open the plastic door. Ball bearings then flew out of the machine and hit her in the stomach.
‘The force blew me off my feet,’ Van Beck said.
‘I fell backwards and hit my head.’
The force of the fall rendered her unconscious. When she woke up, she reached for her phone.
‘The force blew me off my feet,’ Van Beck said. ‘I fell backwards and hit my head.’ The force of the fall rendered her unconscious. When she woke up, she reached for her phone
Unfortunately, the force of the blast hurled the phone into another room.
‘I remember waking up. My head hurt. I couldn’t move,’ Van Beck said.
Van Beck then used her Apple Watch. She asked Siri to call her husband, Noah, who works as a first responder for the Freeport Fire Department.
‘He’s literally a lifesaver,’ Van Beck said. ‘If I called 911, he’d be the one to come.’
Noah rushed home and then took his wife to the emergency room, where doctors diagnosed her with a concussion and sinus cavity injury.
Van Beck posted a photograph of the washing machine and wrote a long message on Facebook warning others.
The post was shared by over 17,000 people and generated thousands of responses.
Unfortunately, the force of the blast hurled the phone into another room. Van Beck then used her Apple Watch. She asked Siri to call her husband, Noah, who works as a first responder for the Freeport Fire Department
‘I felt like as a mom it was the right thing to do,’ Van Beck said.
‘Everyone has that in common – everyone does laundry.’
She said she hopes her message will prevent more ‘freak accidents’ like this in the future.
After the Facebook post, a representative from Whirlpool reached out to her and agreed to replace the washer and dryer.
‘We are in contact with the consumer and are in the process of exchanging the washer (and the dryer) so we can analyze what happened,’ Whirlpool spokesman Kristine Sherman told CBS News.
‘Although we cannot speculate about what happened with this particular product, Whirlpool is committed to delivering safe, innovative products to consumers.’
Van Beck said she plans to fill out a claim for medical expenses.
‘It could have been a lot worse,’ Van Beck said.
‘If it would have been one of my children, that could have been deadly.’