A 5-year-old girl’s finger was partially minced by the blades of a hand dryer at a restroom along Orchard Road, leaving her traumatized, her father said.
Nick Matthew Chia recounted the Monday incident on Facebook today, including gory details of his daughter’s crushed bones. The girl, only known as Kara, had gone to a female restroom at the Ion Orchard shopping center with her helper when she stuck her index finger into the hand dryer thinking that it was a tissue dispenser, Chia said.
“The damage was extensive enough that the bones on her finger were reduced to nothing but little stones and dusty white powder,” he said. “I was picking up little pieces of her bones and holding them in my hand hoping to bring them to the hospital in some sliver of hope that it may be salvageable.”
The mall management said that a “team rendered immediate assistance to the girl” after being alerted to the incident. Chia said that the staff who attended had struggled to unlock the dryer.
“We sincerely regret to learn of the incident and are currently investigating the cause. As an added precautionary measure, we have checked all the hand dryers in Ion Orchard to ensure their safety,” it said in a statement to Coconuts.
Photos shared by Chia showed his daughter’s bandaged hand while she rested on a hospital bed, and the hand dryer in question.
The family was having dinner at the mall when their helper accompanied Kara to the restroom, according to Chia. After washing her hands, his daughter walked to the hand dryer on her own while the helper was using the tap. The staff who arrived at the scene could not find the keys to the dryer and had to pry it open, he said.
Kara now prefers to wipe her hands on her clothes, according to Chia, who also mentioned plans to get his daughter a prosthetic finger.
“But till then, my tender 5 year old baby girl has to walk down the road of life with the stares and questions that others will have for her, and constantly having to mentally relive that awful event.” he wrote.
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