I was washing mine the other day and almost did the same thing -- but my brain kicked in -- boy that would be a horrid thing to happen.

Hope she has not damaged nerves and I wish her well.

She's lucky she still has her fingers, but surely common sense would tell her not to wash the stick blender while it's still plugged in, she could have been electrocuted and would not be alive to tell the story. It would be a long healing process, I wish her well also. 

She is lucky she never got electrocuted as well. I wish her a speedy recovery and to be cautious of all blades and to keep all electic products away from water.

Glad Emma didn't lose her fingers..but in all honesty it was sheer stupidity. We tell children to unplug appliances after using..where is her brain?

Important to note also with these appliances, current is still running for a few seconds..best leave for a short while before washing.

sophie, sophie, There is NO current "running" once you unplug or switch off. Please don't spread nonsense(from a sparky).

Emma, dear oh dear?? I wish I had read this before yesterday, because I did the exact same thing with the same appliance. Fortunately I have a huge respect for a sharp blade which spins under power. Your mental note could also include "do not allow yourself to be distracted while using these potentially dangerous appliances." 

Emma, dear oh dear?? I wish I had read this before yesterday, because I did the exact same thing with the same appliance. Fortunately I have a huge respect for a sharp blade which spins under power. Your mental note could also include "do not allow yourself to be distracted while using these potentially dangerous appliances." 

You need to be careful too with ordinary food mixers - especially if you have long hair. The motors are powerful and it's not easy to stop them suddenly - you could have aterrible accident if your hair got caught in the moving parts.

The blurb in the manual warns you of this when you first buy one - then you bin that and forget.

This is going to sound a bit left field, but medical researchers have found that:

- it is impossible to multitask where tasks involving any of the higher thinking are involved (driving a car for example, or using those appliances); and 

- we are often not in the moment and mentally distracted and that inattentiveness is not good for the brain, reduces life enjoyment and can cause accidents;

so,

put five minutes or better a day into the discipline of mindfulness.  Live mindfully.

As a tip, there is a very good free program available that was created in Australia, 

Smiling Mind [click for link]

[Disclaimer: I have no connection with it of course]

I wonder how Emma is now??