Girl, 5, loses half of index finger when using hand dryer in toilet at Ion Orchard mall

SINGAPORE — What was meant to be a fun family outing at the Ion Orchard shopping mall on Monday (Dec 6) evening for the Chia family took a tragic turn when their five-year-old daughter lost about half of her left index finger when she tried using a hand dryer in a basement toilet.

Recounting the incident on his personal Facebook account on Friday, the girl’s father, Mr Nick Matthew Chia, said his daughter had gone to the toilet with the family’s helper after dinner.

He said that after washing her hands, his daughter, Kara, wanted to dry them and opted to use a chimney-shaped hand dryer that was mounted on a wall and concealed by a metal housing.

To do so, the girl inserted her hands into a hole at the base of the dryer, and the machine’s fan blades mangled her finger. 

Mr Chia claims there was no cover for the vent, which would have prevented his daughter from inserting her hands into the hole.

His post has since gone viral and has been shared more than 1,000 times.

Speaking to TODAY, the 35-year-old said he decided to go public about the accident as he wanted to raise awareness that such mishaps can happen.

“I do not wish for any other child in Singapore to ever encounter this, nor for any parent to feel my pain,” Mr Chia, who works in the automobile industry, said.

He said his helper has been left distraught by the accident, since she was the closest to her at the time it happened. She took a screaming Kara out of the toilet.

Mr Chia said: "Her eyes were filled with pain and she was begging, 'Papa, please help me'... I've frankly never felt so powerless before."

He said the accident had left him “extremely angry because it was completely avoidable”.

When he asked the technical crew and management staff member who responded to the accident about why the vent was not covered, he claimed that they could not give him a response.

Mr Chia said he has not been able to ask his daughter why she stuck her hands up the hole as she did not want to talk about it, but he knows that was how she lost her finger because “there was blood all over the place”.

He suspects one possible reason is that she might have thought it was a tissue dispenser and she wanted to pull one out.

Whatever the case, he said he had to pick up fragments of his daughter’s finger in hopes that doctors at the KK Women's and Children's Hospital, where she was warded until Friday, would be able to salvage it.

Unfortunately, they said they were not able to do so and had to “terminate” slightly more than half of the affected index finger.

They also suggested a toe transplant to replace the top half of Kara’s index finger, but her parents decided against it.

“There are obviously risks (in agreeing to the operation)... and I'm in there to mitigate any more risks. She could potentially lose not just her finger, but her toe as well,” Mr Chia said.

In any case, he said he was optimistic that medical advances will one day allow his daughter to have a functioning prosthetic finger.

When asked if the management at Ion Orchard has reached out to him, Mr Chia said the mall’s management wanted to meet to talk about rendering assistance. 

“But when they called me, (Kara) was still in hospital and the procedures were not done. So I told them, ‘Let this (operation) be over and I’ll collect my thoughts first’.” 

Mr Chia said he is still considering his next course of action and has yet to receive his daughter’s medical bill.   

In response to TODAY’s queries, a spokesperson from Ion Orchard confirmed that the accident happened and that it is investigating the cause.

The spokesperson said the mall takes the safety of its shoppers and tenants seriously, and that hand dryers are regularly checked to ensure they are in working condition and are replaced where necessary.

“Immediately after this incident, we have conducted the necessary checks and ensured that all hand dryers are operating safely. We will continue to stay in touch with her family to render the necessary support.”

The spokesperson did not address TODAY’s query on why the hand dryer’s vent did not have a protective cover, and when asked for clarification, reiterated the earlier reply.

AVOIDING THE TOPIC

Kara was discharged from hospital on Friday and has returned home, much to the excitement of her older siblings — twin sisters aged nine and a brother aged eight.

Giving an update on how Kara is doing now, Mr Chia said she is in “generally high spirits”, but it was clear she was masking her emotions and was constantly staring at her bandaged hand.

“When we try to address her hand, because she keeps staring at it, she will divert the topic and say, ‘Oh, that’s my favourite TV show, or that is my favourite toy.’ She will avoid it (the topic) altogether.” 

Once, Kara told her father that she needed to use the bathroom at the hospital.

“She said, ‘Papa, please bring me. I need you to protect me.’ I took her into the toilet and she was staring at the hand dryer and paper dispenser that were there.”

Mr Chia said he took the opportunity to explain to her that the accident happened because of the lack of a protective cover on the hand dryer.

“She said, ‘Papa, I don't want to use a hand dryer any more. I'll just clean (my hands) on my clothes. I promise I won't do it again.’ I mean, how do you even answer a kid like this?”

Mr Chia said he has also seen his daughter curling her right index finger and believes she was trying to compare the sensation with her left hand and realising “something is wrong”. 

He said his daughter was also worried that her friends will not want to play with her because of her missing finger. 

As Kara’s bandages will be coming off on Monday, Mr Chia said his family will have to find a way to help their daughter confront the reality of what has happened.

“We’re trying to motivate her by telling her that life isn’t going to change much, even though there is a little bump on the road,” he said.

“I told my wife and my kids that we're all going to tie our index finger halfway to learn how to use our remaining fingers so Kara won't feel so left out.”