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SINGAPORE - It was his first trip to Singapore. But instead of fond memories, little Gavin Posse is left with the nightmare of how he lost his big toe when his rubber shoe was caught in an escalator at a shopping mall.
Mr Juergen Posse, 58, a German retiree, and his family, who live in Jakarta, had been shopping at 313@Somerset around 9.15pm on Friday.
They were taking an escalator down from the fourth storey to the third when Gavin, 4, started screaming in pain.
Speaking to The New Paper over the phone from Jakarta yesterday, Mr Posse said: "I saw his shoe going in deeper and deeper. It was absolutely terrible."
Mr Posse, who was standing with his older son behind his wife and Gavin, said the accident happened while they were somewhere in the middle of the escalator.
Half of Gavin's Crocs shoe was wedged between the steps and the side of the escalator.
Mr Posse dashed to the bottom of the escalator to try to stop it from moving. But in his panic, he did not find the stop button and tried pressing something else.
His wife, Mrs Erie Posse, 43, said: "He jumped three steps at a time and was at the bottom in a flash. Gavin's foot was stuck, but the escalator kept moving forward."
To prevent further injury, Mrs Posse carried Gavin up, with half his torn shoe still attached to his left foot.
That was when her elder son, Gilang, 14, screamed: "Mama, look at his feet!"
Mrs Posse, an Indonesian events promoter, took off his shoe and saw his mangled left big toe.
She said: "Only half his toe was left. A passer-by later gave us the part of the toe that had fallen off."
Frantic, the family started screaming for help and running around to find someone who could help them.
After running 50m to 80m, Mrs Posse spotted a security guard and ran towards him, shouting: "It's an emergency!"
The guard called for an ambulance and joined the parents in trying to stop the bleeding.
Mr Posse said: "We waited for about 10 minutes, but it felt like an eternity."
Two shopping centre staff members tried to help with a small first-aid kit.
Mrs Posse said: "But there was nothing in it that could help my son. They didn't even have painkillers."
Her voice breaking, she continued: "It's such a horrible memory. I'm still shaking when I talk about it. I felt so helpless, so frustrated and angry, I wanted to punch someone, but I couldn't."
When the ambulance arrived, the family of four were taken to a hospital whose name they couldn't remember. There, they were told to go to the National University Hospital (NUH) so that doctors could try to surgically re-attach Gavin's toe.
But their hopes were dashed about 11/2 hours into Gavin's surgery, said Mr Posse.
Amputate
The doctor had told them before the surgery that there was only a 10 per cent chance that the surgery would be successful. However, half-way through, he came out and told them that they had to amputate Gavin's toe, said Mr Posse.
Around 1am, while Gavin was in surgery, Mr Derek Ariss, head of security at 313@Somerset, met the family at the hospital. Mr Posse said: "He apologised, and said they were unable to help us because it was a long weekend and the legal staff were on holiday." The next day, Mr Ariss and 313@Somerset general manager Amy Lim visited the Posses at their hotel room to check on Gavin's well-being and advised them to contact the mall's main office in Australia.
The family returned to Jakarta on Saturday evening, but it was three days before Gavin started behaving normally.
In the days after the accident, the lively child with bright eyes was moody and often woke up crying. He refused to look at his feet, said Mrs Posse. She added: "It's not just Gavin. All of us were affected. It was so traumatic that even now, when I close my eyes, I can see all the images from that day. My husband also cries in his sleep."
Mr Posse feels that more could have been done to prevent such accidents from happening.
He intends to file an insurance claim against 313@Somerset and has written to the manufacturers of the rubber shoes and the escalator.
Mrs Posse said they had bought Gavin's Crocs from a mall in Jakarta three or four months ago. There have been other accidents involving children wearing Crocs and other footwear on escalators.
Mr Posse said: "They should have put up signs to warn us and advise us to take the lift if our children were wearing rubber shoes."
When contacted, Ms Lim said the shopping centre has signage with safety tips on glass panels on the escalators, consistent with Building and Construction Authority standards. It also has other safety measures, including the painted safety footprints on all escalator steps and additional step lighting, she said.
There are emergency stop buttons at the top and bottom of all escalators. The buttons were not pressed during the incident, said Ms Lim. The New Paper understands that escalator manufacturers are required to install emergency stop buttons on the escalators.
She said: "Our video footage shows the buttons were not activated but the boy's father was pushing an indicator sign on the escalator."
Explaining why they had not given Gavin painkillers, Ms Lim said: "Our concierge staff and safety ambassadors are first-aid trained but we are not permitted to administer pain medication.
"This procedure can be administered only by paramedics or professional medical staff as legally required."
When asked if the mall would be making any compensation to the Posses, whose son's hospital bill came to $3,000, Ms Lim said the case is being dealt with in accordance with the company's policies and procedures.
