7-Year-Old Boy Loses Part of His Finger in Primary School Door

A seven-year-old boy is currently recovering after he lost part of his finger in an accident at school.

During lunchtime on April 29th, Rhys, seven, lost the tip of his little finger and nail after getting it caught in a toilet door at Harestanes Primary School.

Following the incident, the boy was rushed into emergency surgery at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow where surgeons were unable to reattach the severed digit, resulting in them removed 2mm of bone to close the wound with skin grafting.

The boy’s parents have since hit out at the school, describing them to have a ‘horrendous lack of medical assistance and first aid’.

It was the boy’s family who first noticed that part of his finger was missing – resulting in teachers at the school looking for the severed fingertip in the toilets – however, upon finding the severed digit, teachers failed to put the fingertip on ice.

Ann Davie, Deputy Chief Executive of Education, People and Business for East Dunbartonshire Council has said: “We are very sorry that this injury has occurred and for the distress caused to Rhys and his family. We are currently carrying out an investigation into the circumstances of the accident and the concerns raised by the family and will take the appropriate action once the investigation is complete”.

In past incidents, primary school’s and local authorities have been fined amounts varying between £4,000 and £20,000 for finger-trapping accidents.

In October 2017, the British Association of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons warned of the life-long effects of finger-trapping accidents in which they reported 50,000 finger-trapping accidents occur every year with 1 in 6 of those resulting in amputation.

The importance of having door finger guards in place to prevent finger-trapping accidents in environments such as schools and nurseries cannot be stressed enough.

At Fingershield™ Safety, we have been providing high-quality door safety products to schools and nurseries since 1999.

We have a network of door safety surveyors across the UK offering Free Door Risk Assessments to schools and nurseries to check that all their current door finger guards are in full working order without cracks or splits and to assess any doors which do not already have finger protection in place.

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Sources: Scotsman, Kirkintilloch Herald.