Girl\'s toe ripped off on escalator

Tag : toe shoe

By Amanda Yong
HER teddy bear has been her only confidante, the only one privy toher thoughts and feelings on the horrific incident in which shelost a big toe.
The 4-year-old has been so traumatised by the incident that she hasrefused to speak to anyone - including her parents - about whathappened that day.
On 20 Sep, her shoe became trapped in a moving escalator at TheFurniture Mall at Beach Road. To her parents' horror, the shoe wasmangled and the big toe on her left foot was ripped off.
Aware of 'the pain and sadness' this has caused her parents, thelittle girl has been putting on a brave front and even tells themto 'stop it' when she overhears them talking about the incident.
The girl's father, Mr Kunio, 36, a company director, requested thathis daughter's name not be used. The family had moved here fromJapan in 2006.
The couple and their daughter were at the mall that Saturday toshop for a magazine rack when they got onto an escalator on thesecond storey at about 4.15pm. The girl stood alone on one of thesteps, in between her mother in front and Mr Kunio behind her.
While they were about midway up the escalator, the girl turned tospeak to him. That was when her left foot got trapped.
She screamed and called out in Japanese: 'Ma! Pain!'
Mrs Kunio noticed that her daughter's legs were twisted in anawkward position and shouted to her husband: 'Her leg!'
Mr Kunio lifted her up, not realising her foot was trapped, and itcaused her big toe to be ripped off. Her left sock and shoe - aCrocs rubber clog - remained stuck in the escalator. All thiswhile, the escalator kept moving.
Said Mr Kunio through an interpreter: 'If only the escalator hadstopped moving, I might have realised that something was wrong andI wouldn't have carried her up.'
When they reached the third storey, the couple's cries for helpattracted a few shop owners and passers-by, one of whom called foran ambulance. Meanwhile, the girl sat on a chair offered by one ofthe shop owners, blood dripping from her open wound.
'Even when we were waiting for the ambulance, because she saw howupset and sad I looked, she said to me: 'I'm okay. It's notpainful. You musn't cry. Ma musn't cry. Then I won't cry,' Mr Kuniorecalled.
Paramedics from the Singapore Civil Defence Force bandaged herwound on the way to KK Women's and Children's Hospital.
She underwent a one-hour long operation under general anaesthesiaand was warded for two days.
However, doctors were unable to re-attach her toe, which the mall'smaintenance personnel and mechanics from the escalator company tooktwo hours to retrieve.
'The doctor said that the toe, the tendons, bone, skin and bloodvessels, were too crushed, and that there was no way to sew the toeback on to her foot,' said Mr Kunio.
Painkillers every 4 hours
His daughter also sustained scratches on her other toes. Since theincident, she has been taking painkillers every four hours. She wasalso prescribed a seven-day course of antibiotics.
She has been going to the doctor every two days for her wounds tobe dressed. This is when her composure breaks.
Said Mr Kunio: 'She is so scared of the pain from the dressing thatshe will cry and refuse to go to the doctor. My wife actually hasto cry so that she will agree to go.'
He added that his daughter could not walk for two weeks and had tobe carried or ferried around in a pram.
The couple, worried about the psychological impact of the incidenton their child, may send her for counselling.
Mr Kunio has also promised his daughter that he will 'do somethingfor her'. He plans to get an artificial toe for her in Japan in thefuture.
'I am afraid that people will laugh at her for missing a toe. Iwill do all I can to prevent her from suffering even more fromthis,' he said.
Mr Kunio said they are sharing their experience to highlight theimportance of escalator safety.
'We realised that we need to bring this up so that other parentswill know how bad it can be,' he said.
Mrs Kunio, 36, a housewife, also owns a pair of Crocs, but in adifferent design. She had bought the Crocs for her daughter andherself a few months ago.
In recent years, there have been reports of children wearing rubberclogs having their feet caught in escalators.
Attempts to reach Crocs for comment yesterday were unsuccessful.
In a 2006 Straits Times report, Crocs said most escalator incidentsresulted from improper use.
Said a spokesman: 'Escalator injuries are serious and even oneincident is one too many. We hope that this will lead to addedattention and effort being placed on improving escalator designsand maintenance regulations.'
This article was first published in The New Paper on Oct 07, 2008.