One cold morning in March, back in 2006, my brother John and I were fighting over who's turn it was in the bathroom. Our house, unfortunately, only has one bathroom, so fighting over it was an every day occurrence. John had decided it was his turn to get ready, but I disagreed. So naturally, we began to scream at one another as siblings do. We were both standing in the door way — John was in the bathroom and I was in the hallway. I had put my left hand on the door frame as I continued to explain that it was my turn to get ready. John then slammed the door not knowing my hand was there, and it all went down hill from there.
Next thing I know, I'm screaming at the top of my lungs saying, "JOHN MY FINGER IS IN THE DOOR." Now in typical brotherly fashion he says, "Yeah right you're fine," and then opened the door thinking I was joking. However, when he opened the door, we both saw my sweatshirt sleeve was covered in blood, and when I pulled it away from my fingers, I saw my bone. I literally felt like I was in a horror movie (yes I realize it was only my pinky finger, but still I saw my own BONE). John threw me the hand towel from the bathroom, and I rushed outside to show my mom.
My poor mother was beside herself when she saw me sprinting out to her with a blood soaked hand towel wrapped around my hand. She told me to immediately jump in the car and rushed inside to get John. While we were on our way to the emergency room, my mom was trying to keep me calm by telling me that once I got stitches I could go to school and show all my friends. My brother John was in shock of what had just taken place, and with a nervous trembling voice he said, "Mom, I think maybe I should have picked up Molly's finger and brought it with us." My mom hadn't been able to see with all the blood that the top of my finger had actually come off and was sitting on the floor in our house. She nearly drove off the road when he said that he should have brought my FINGER to the hospital.
When we got to the hospital, I was in complete shock, so I wasn't crying and really couldn't feel my left hand at all. My mom and brother, however, were both pale as ghosts and on the verge of tears. After meeting with a team of plastic surgeons, they decided to send me to a specialist's office and said that my finger could possibly be reattached. However, someone was going to have to go home and bring my finger to the doctor. My dad had been at work when all of this was taking place, so now my mom had to call him, fill him in on what happened, and also tell him he needed to go home and put my finger in a plastic bag and bring it to us. My mom also called my grandaddy to come pick up John from the hospital and bring him home because he was a wreck.
Once John got picked up, my mom and I headed over to the specialist's office where my dad was waiting with my finger. We met the doctor and he told me that my finger had been on the ground for quite awhile, so he wasn't sure the reattachment would work but wanted to give it a try. He numbed my entire left hand and told me I probably shouldn't watch him do the reattachment.
As the doctor was doing the surgery, my mom and I were looking out his office window and talking, while my dad decided to watch the reattachment. After about 20 minutes of surgery, my dad leans over to my mom and says, "I'm going to step out for a minute, be right back." When my dad walked out of the room, we hear a nurse yell, "WE GOT A MAN DOWN." Yup, that's right. My dad passed out.
Long story short, the reattachment didn't end up working, and I ended up getting a staph infection on my bone. After many doctors visits and numerous procedures, I almost lost my finger completely. Fortunately, enough healthy skin grew back, and they were able to save it after six months of hard work. 10 years later, my pinky still doesn't look like a normal finger. I get asked all the time what happened to my finger when people notice, and any time I have ever needed a fun fact for something, it comes in handy. Get it? Handy.
I love my pinky though. It's unique and makes for a great story.
