Shocking story of a woman’s plea for help: ‘I can’t find my finger’
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Content warning: This article contains graphic images of blood and injuries, and body horror due to a traumatic lawnmower accident. Reader discretion is advised.
Mowing the lawn can be a boring job, no doubt, but it is most certainly not dangerous or life-threatening.
But for one Aussie mum, the mundane chore quickly became a devastating ordeal.
Krichelle Parkinson, a 39-year-old firefighter, had decided to mow her lawn on Sunday afternoon.
As she started her ride-on mower in the backyard, she spotted a garden hose in her way.
‘I turned off the blades and got off the mower,’ she said.
‘I moved the hose over, got back on and started the blades when I noticed there was a wire in the hose...and for some reason, I [leaned] over just to grab it and move it out the way.’
However, the wire whirled past her, and before she knew it, it had already cut into her hand.
'There was blood spurting everywhere,' Krichelle recalled.
‘I looked down at my thumb and realised it was gone.’
Not only that, but the horror mowing accident had also inflicted deep lacerations on her four remaining fingers and broken them in the process.
Krichelle believed that either the blades or the pulley system caught the wire and pulled it swiftly across her thumb.
‘There was no skin left, but technically, I still had a thumb as the main knuckle was there, but my bone was exposed,’ she said.
In absolute panic, Krichelle immediately called her partner, who had left the house only minutes earlier, to tell him about the accident. She feared what the impact of this accident would have on her children, who were at home at that time.
She also knew she needed urgent assistance as her home in Seaham, NSW Hunter region, was ‘At least 30 minutes away from an ambulance station’.
Her partner soon arrived. Home security footage shows Krichelle screaming ‘find my fingers’ immediately after the incident while she clutched her injured hand, frantically talking to emergency services on the phone.
‘Initially, I said to my partner, “My fingers are gone”, because it felt like the most damage was to my actual fingers. But in hindsight, that's because they were the only ones that I had left,’ she said.
The accident was not caught on home security footage, but something flew across the yard after a cutting sound was heard.
Despite extensive searching of Krichelle’s thumb by her partner, 13-year-old son, and ambulance workers in her backyard, it was nowhere to be found, and its location remained a mystery to the family.
As Krichelle painfully remembered, 'If it was in one piece, it could have been reattached, but it's nowhere to be found.'
Doctors were forced to ‘cut down the bone’ of the missing thumb to carry out a procedure for Krichelle so she could still have some sensation in the remaining ‘nub’ and could grab things in the future.
Krichelle was in ‘extreme pain’ afterwards and suffered over 30 seizures after the procedure.
Doctors took the recovery ‘one day at a time’ before setting expectations on how Krichelle’s hand function would be in the future.
Krichelle admitted that she hadn’t fully comprehended the accident and the extent of her injuries. However, she needed to ‘readjust everything’ and to see where her ‘firefighting goes from here’.
However, she was still grateful for her family, who had a ‘very Aussie’ approach to losing her thumb.
‘Within hours of being in the hospital, my whole family, even my little nephews, are sending “thumbs up” photos to me and have nicknamed me “Nubby”,’ she said.
‘If you don't laugh, you'll cry.’
‘My partner also rang me earlier and said, “Is this the Hogwarts Express? Because I'm looking for platform nine and three-quarters,”’ she laughed.
In the hopes that by sharing her story, other Aussies will think twice before mowing their garden to avoid such terrible accidents.
'The most important thing is, no matter if you think you know what you're doing, don't lean off the mower or touch things on the grass when one is moving. Stop, put the break on, stop the blades and then do it,' she warned.
‘My hand was nowhere near the blades, and this happened.’
Gardening can be therapeutic to some, and it may even boost your longevity! In a previous article, researchers have found that mowing the lawn is an unexpected way to keep you healthy and live longer. You can check the story here.
Members, always be cautious when mowing the lawn in your backyard as it could pose a potential threat. If a similar situation happens to you or someone else when mowing, call 000 for emergency services. Always stay safe, members!
What are your safety precautions when gardening? Let us know in the comments below!
Mowing the lawn can be a boring job, no doubt, but it is most certainly not dangerous or life-threatening.
But for one Aussie mum, the mundane chore quickly became a devastating ordeal.
Krichelle Parkinson, a 39-year-old firefighter, had decided to mow her lawn on Sunday afternoon.
As she started her ride-on mower in the backyard, she spotted a garden hose in her way.
‘I turned off the blades and got off the mower,’ she said.
Krichelle’s mowing turned out to be a horrific accident. Credit: Shutterstock
‘I moved the hose over, got back on and started the blades when I noticed there was a wire in the hose...and for some reason, I [leaned] over just to grab it and move it out the way.’
However, the wire whirled past her, and before she knew it, it had already cut into her hand.
'There was blood spurting everywhere,' Krichelle recalled.
‘I looked down at my thumb and realised it was gone.’
Not only that, but the horror mowing accident had also inflicted deep lacerations on her four remaining fingers and broken them in the process.
Krichelle believed that either the blades or the pulley system caught the wire and pulled it swiftly across her thumb.
‘There was no skin left, but technically, I still had a thumb as the main knuckle was there, but my bone was exposed,’ she said.
In absolute panic, Krichelle immediately called her partner, who had left the house only minutes earlier, to tell him about the accident. She feared what the impact of this accident would have on her children, who were at home at that time.
She also knew she needed urgent assistance as her home in Seaham, NSW Hunter region, was ‘At least 30 minutes away from an ambulance station’.
Her partner soon arrived. Home security footage shows Krichelle screaming ‘find my fingers’ immediately after the incident while she clutched her injured hand, frantically talking to emergency services on the phone.
‘Initially, I said to my partner, “My fingers are gone”, because it felt like the most damage was to my actual fingers. But in hindsight, that's because they were the only ones that I had left,’ she said.
The accident was not caught on home security footage, but something flew across the yard after a cutting sound was heard.
Despite extensive searching of Krichelle’s thumb by her partner, 13-year-old son, and ambulance workers in her backyard, it was nowhere to be found, and its location remained a mystery to the family.
As Krichelle painfully remembered, 'If it was in one piece, it could have been reattached, but it's nowhere to be found.'
Doctors were forced to ‘cut down the bone’ of the missing thumb to carry out a procedure for Krichelle so she could still have some sensation in the remaining ‘nub’ and could grab things in the future.
Krichelle was in ‘extreme pain’ afterwards and suffered over 30 seizures after the procedure.
Doctors took the recovery ‘one day at a time’ before setting expectations on how Krichelle’s hand function would be in the future.
Krichelle and her family couldn’t find her thumb anywhere in her yard. Credit: Yahoo News Australia
Krichelle admitted that she hadn’t fully comprehended the accident and the extent of her injuries. However, she needed to ‘readjust everything’ and to see where her ‘firefighting goes from here’.
However, she was still grateful for her family, who had a ‘very Aussie’ approach to losing her thumb.
‘Within hours of being in the hospital, my whole family, even my little nephews, are sending “thumbs up” photos to me and have nicknamed me “Nubby”,’ she said.
‘If you don't laugh, you'll cry.’
‘My partner also rang me earlier and said, “Is this the Hogwarts Express? Because I'm looking for platform nine and three-quarters,”’ she laughed.
In the hopes that by sharing her story, other Aussies will think twice before mowing their garden to avoid such terrible accidents.
'The most important thing is, no matter if you think you know what you're doing, don't lean off the mower or touch things on the grass when one is moving. Stop, put the break on, stop the blades and then do it,' she warned.
‘My hand was nowhere near the blades, and this happened.’
Gardening can be therapeutic to some, and it may even boost your longevity! In a previous article, researchers have found that mowing the lawn is an unexpected way to keep you healthy and live longer. You can check the story here.
Members, always be cautious when mowing the lawn in your backyard as it could pose a potential threat. If a similar situation happens to you or someone else when mowing, call 000 for emergency services. Always stay safe, members!
What are your safety precautions when gardening? Let us know in the comments below!
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