We have recently received an interesting letter from one of our Door Safety Surveyors, Mr. Dick Thornton who is a very hardworking Surveyor and has been part of the Fingershield team for 5 years. The letter that Dick sent was unfortunately quite upsetting, as it concerned an alarming accident involving his 13-year-old granddaughter, Chloe, while she was at school.

In his letter, Dick says: “On Tuesday afternoon, my granddaughter was at school as usual. Chloe is 13 (going on 25 as are all teenagers) and is a loving if slightly absent-minded girl. During a break in the afternoon lessons, she and a group of friends were chatting in a corridor immediately outside her classroom when the door was slammed shut from the inside. As she had her hand resting between the door and the frame she became yet another unfortunate statistic by badly damaging the third finger of her left hand.

“She fractured the bone at the very end of the finger but very fortunately the end of her finger remained connected – just – but, as you can imagine, there was a copious amount of blood coupled with considerable pain and distress.

“My son and daughter-in-law were contacted and an ambulance took her to the local infirmary where she was admitted to the plastic surgery ward. Eventually, at 8.30 pm, they were told that the operation to repair the finger would not take place that night because of an emergency admission. Chloe had been without food since lunchtime.

They returned the following morning and, once again, Chloe could not have any food or drink as the damage would have to be repaired under general anaesthetic. Having waited all day and becoming more and more distressed, she was sent home at 8.00 pm, without the operation taking place.

“They returned to the hospital this morning where the operation did take place at 10.30 am. I am happy to report that the operation went well and, hopefully, the only permanent damage will be scar tissue and a loss of feeling in the tip of the damaged finger.

“Chloe’s hand is heavily bandaged and she will have to attend the relevant clinic to have the dressing changed but, at least, she can now have something to eat!

“As you can imagine, my son Richard could not find the words to describe his feelings when he knows how many schools I protect and have done for the last few years. In fact, my wife, Linda, and I did a survey of this very 900 pupil school approximately 2½ years ago but no purchases were made.

“It just goes to show that nasty accidents can strike at any time, even to those closest to home.”

Following the incident, the school has installed over one hundred Fingershield devices to protect doors throughout the school premises and to prevent any further distressing finger-trapping accidents.

Alarmingly, the school in this case study was a secondary school, which highlights the importance of the fact that unprotected doors pose a danger to people of all ages, not just small children.

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