An escalator ride turned tragic for a British family when their 5-year-old boy lost his big toe while wearing the popular rubber Crocs footwear.  His mother, Helen Wood, said her son Stanley sustained “life changing injuries” when his shoe was caught a moving escalator, and she wants to warn parents that the children’s footwear is “potentially lethal”.

Ms. Wood’s experience turned to anger and advocacy when, “we realised that we are not the only parents dealing with this and there have been several lawsuits against a famous company that produces these colourful, soft rubber sandals that kids love so much.”  She has vowed to launch an awareness campaign to caution parents.

The incident occurred on February 14 while the family was on vacation in Dubai. The boy was rushed into the emergency room to salvage a portion of the toe, according to officials from Al Zahra Hospital.

It’s hard to imagine that a small shoe can lead to such damage, but the descriptions of the injury are horrific.  A doctor quoted in The Gulf News reported that, “the entire plantar ligament that begins in the calf muscle and ends at the big toe was pulled out along with a bit of muscle attached to it while the big toe was sliced off and the bone below was exposed.”

When the boy was extricated from the escalator, the foot was, “badly injured with the skin stripped out along with the long plantar tendon. The severed toe was so mangled that it could not be re-attached.”

A plastic surgeon was able to cover the exposed bone with soft tissue and skin graft from the thigh and the child will be able to have at least half a toe.  His mom noted that her son will need numerous operations.

“He will need multiple operations to reconstruct the remaining part of his foot.”

 

[Feature Photo: Facebook]