A 21-year-old kitchen helper spent three hours with his badly mangled hand trapped in a powerful meat-grinder while rescuers battled to save him.
His hand was badly crushed by the mincer and doctors had to amputate it to save his life. Medics sedated him while they tried to free his hand from the grip of the machine.
Hospital sources last night said the victim's condition was stable after he had undergone the operation. "His hand from the wrist was amputated."
Suleiman Lobby Jaafar, a Sri Lankan, was mincing mutton for the lunchtime trade at an Iranian restaurant in Jafiliya. The machine got stuck, and Jaafar pushed the meat into the clogged mincer.
The machine suddenly restarted and his fingers got stuck. It started to mince his fingers. His screaming alerted his colleagues who rushed over and switched off the mincer. By then his palm was also caught in the machine. They called 999 while others tried to free his hand.
"It was awful. Poor Suleiman, he was screaming in agony and we were all shocked we could not believe our eyes," said one of his colleagues. An ambulance from Dubai Police rushed to the scene, and also tried in vain to help out.
A paramedic who was at the scene told Gulf News that they tried to free the victim's hand but it was stuck in the machine. "We then carried him with the machine in the ambulance and rushed him to Rashid Hospital," he said.
At the hospital, the doctors were faced with the dilemma of amputating his arm or to try and salvage what was left of it. Rescuers from the Special Task Force at Dubai Police were called in to help.
Leading the operation was the officer on duty, First Lieutenant Ali Abdullah Al Naqbi. "When we arrived at the emergency room at the hospital we found the badly bleeding victim, who had been sedated, lying with his palm totally inside the machine," he said.
"Part of his palm was stuck in the bolts inside the machine so we had to dismantle it in order to free the hand. We worked on the grinding mechanism and wound it backwards, while the doctors pulled the arm. The blood and oil in the machine made the machine slick and made our job very difficult.
"Inch by inch we managed to free the hand. It was a very delicate operation."
Al Naqbi pointed out that they were working against the clock as they were afraid the victim's condition would deteriorate.
"We and the doctors worked as a team they were stabilising the patient's condition while we were trying to free him," he said. "It was too late to save his palm but at least we managed to save his arm."
Gulf News
