Mum’s fury as son loses fingertip in school horror
BOY’S INJURY ‘WRAPPED IN TISSUE’
THE family of a seven-year-old boy who severed his finger in a toilet door at school has claimed there was no first aider.
Rhys Pringles lost the tip of his pinky and nail after getting his finger caught in a toilet door at school.
The youngster was forced to undergo emergency surgery but surgeons at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow were unable to reattach the severed digit.
Medics had to remove 2mm of bone and close the wound with a skin graft.
Furious mum, Arlene Stenhouse-don, 36, said her son’s finger might have been saved had staff put it in ice.
She also claimed there was no firstaider at Harestanes Primary School in Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow, to help her son after the accident.
Mum-of-four Arlene, who works as a carer, said: “His dad went straight to the school and he was kept waiting for 10 minutes until he could see Rhys.
“We had to ask the school about the severed digit. The teachers found it on the floor in the toilet.
“We went back to the school and my father, who is a retired policeman, asked if they had put it on ice but they had just wrapped it in tissue and put it in the fridge.
“We are left wondering if the severed part had got to the hospital on time they might have been able to save it. “There are no first aiders at the school.” The accident happened during the lunch period on April 29. Arlene added: BY ARTHUR VUNDLA “Rhys ran to a member of staff in the playground after the accident.
“I was horrified when I found out a P7 pupil was asked to take him to the office.
“An ambulance should have been called. Instead, they sat him down and put a tissue on it. The school then called us.”
Rhys, who was picked up by dad Steve, 45, was rushed to Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow, before being transferred to the Royal Hospital for Children.
Steve said: “I could hear him crying. I then went in and noticed he was chalk white, he was shocked.
“They had a stupid gauze wrapped around the side of his fingers. They didn’t even put a plaster on it or put his finger in ice.
“I’m disgusted that my son has lost part of his finger.”
Arlene said she has since had a meeting with the headteacher and claims she was told no one in the school, which has about 200 children, has first aid knowledge.
East Dunbartonshire council deputy chief executive, education, people & business, Ann Davie, said: “We are very sorry this injury 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.”