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Docs and Fire Dept. team save savoury snack maker’s hand stuck in grinder
A savoury snack maker from Kundasale, has lived to tell the tale of a horrifying accident in which his fingers could have been severed when they got stuck in a grinder.
Team effort: Taking the grinder apart and freeing the hand
Cutting equipment from firefighters and an emergency surgical operation at the Kandy Teaching Hospital helped Mohamad Faisal to recover from a terrifying, excruciatingly painful experience.
Plastic surgeon Sasanka Amila Ratnayake undertook the surgery of the man who is a vadey maker.
Dr Ratnayake contacted mechanics in the hospital to try to get their help to cut up the grinder without injuring the man’s fingers. But, their equipment was too large for the job.
So he contacted the director, Dr. Saman Ratnayake, to ask for outside help. The hospital contacted the Fire and rescue Department of the Kandy Municipality and within minutes a team of six arrived with cutting gear. The unit is led by Palitha Subasinghe.
The firefighters took the grinder apart. It was made of pewter. Dr Ratnayake supervised the cutting operation.
All the while, Faisal was under sedation in the surgery. In about 10-15 minutes, the hand and fingers were freed from the grinder and Dr Ratnayake continued the surgery with his assistants.
After the operation, Faisal, who was in Ward 22, told the Sunday Times that he was from Polonnaruwa and that he had worked in Matale as well.
He said his fingers got tangled in the grinder when he was cleaning it.
He is married with two children and is thankful to the doctors who saved him.
Cut open: The grinder
Faisal's hand after the surgery