Dubai doctors reattach fingers to woman’s hand after firecracker explosion

DUBAI // Doctors at Rashid Hospital have reattached three fingers to a woman’s hand after they were blown off in a firecracker explosion.

The woman lost her thumb, ring finger and middle finger after the explosive was placed in her right hand as a prank during Diwali celebrations in October, doctors said.

Dr Khalid Al Awadhi, consultant plastic surgeon and head of hand surgery at the hospital, said the woman in her late thirties was in great pain when she arrived at the emergency room.

“While she was attending a Diwali ceremony, someone put a firecracker in her hand as a joke,” he said.

“The lady did not react fast so it exploded in her hand, causing her to lose her thumb and two fingers, along with the skin.”

The woman was immediately taken to the surgery, where her thumb was reattached in a five-hour operation.

Her two fingers were reattached after two days, using skin removed from her abdomen to cover them. She has since been discharged, the Dubai Health Authority said.

Doctors said she would be able to move her fingers after physiotherapy and recovery would take time.

The woman will also require cosmetic surgery for her fingers after three months.