Toddler's finger severed by play centre's fire door

Luca Pritchard was rushed to hospital where he underwent a gruelling three-hour op to reattach the top of his left ring finger last month. Dad Dom Pritchard was sitting just metres away when he spotted his two-year-old place his hand in the hinges of the heavy fire door. The 34-year-old raced to Luca's side when he claims a staff member began closing the door, not realising the toddler's fingers were trapped in the frame. Dom watched in horror as the bloody tip of Luca's left ring finger tumbled to the ground seconds after being sliced off.

Horrified mum Louise Lebrasse met the pair at Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, in Exeter, Devon, and was told her tot would need an operation to reattach the tip of the severed digit. Despite concerns the finger could die or fail to reattach, the surgery was successful but 35-year-old phlebotomist Louise still believes the accident was preventable and should never happen again.

Louise, from Torquay, Devon, said: “My partner took him [to the play centre] on the Saturday and they were just having some snacks when Luca wanted to go and play. He walked over to a room that holds birthday parties. Luca walked over to this room and his left hand was in the door hinge.

“The lady didn't see him and started to close the door. Dom could see what was happening but was too late getting to him. Luca held his hand up and Dom saw the top of one of his fingers just drop to the floor. He couldn't believe what he had just seen.”

Dom added: “I'll never forget when I saw the end of his finger, it was very traumatic. Because it was my little boy, it made a long-lasting impression on me.”

Quick-thinking Dom wrapped the fingertip in plastic packaging before rushing Luca to hospital where they were met by Louise. There, the tot underwent a three-hour operation to reattach 10mm of his finger that had been chopped off by the fire door.

Louise, a mum-of-two, said: “All his fingers had been crushed and the top of his left wedding finger had been severed off and the nail had come off the middle one. I was absolutely distraught. You just don't expect the top of a little boy's finger to be completely cut off from this. His hand was bandaged up but the blood was still seeping through. He was so brave.

“They had to reattach the top of his finger and the surgery went really well. It was really traumatic to see him so scared being put to sleep was just horrible. They were really hopeful because of his age that the finger would reattach. But there was a chance they wouldn't have been able to save it or it wouldn't take and die.

Louise believes the play centre should've had a safety guard placed on the door hinge to avoid preventable accidents like these.

Louise said: "I feel angry that it happened because it was preventable. I fully understand accidents happen but it didn't need to happen, they could've easily had a door guard. It seems ridiculous to me that they didn't have that in the first place. It didn't need to happen if they had had safety measures in place.

“A lot of soft play areas do have these finger-protective guards because kids always put their hands in doors and it's not safe. We've also only had one phone call from the place since it happened. The staff member hasn't bothered to find out how he's doing. I thought they would offer us a kind gesture of some kind but there's been nothing."