KUCHING: Dr Dalvinder Singh thought it was yet another normal trip to Kuala Lumpur when he arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 from Kuching on May 13 until he heard a loud scream.
Looking around, this 29-year-old Sarawak Health assistant director saw a panic-stricken father holding his two year boy at the bottom of an escalator.
“Initially, I thought the child fell down, but then I saw his hand, up to his forearm, was stuck in the escalator.”
Dr Dalvinder immediately sprang into action. With the assistance of some airport maintenance workers, they managed to free the boy’s hand.
Besides bleeding, cut, and bruised, the tendon of the boy’s hand was exposed, but the quick-thinking doctor spotted a worker with some bandages and immediately got hold of them to stop the bleeding.
The boy was then rushed to a hospital, and at the time of writing, he is still warded. His hand is all right, but Dr Dalvinder believes he (boy) might have to undergo a skin-grafting operation.
After encountering such a harrowing incident, Dr Dalvinder urged parents to keep a good eye on their children when using escalators.
“Do make sure that children stay away from the gaps at the side of escalators and know where the emergency stop buttons are,” he said.
Since children’s bones are much softer and smaller than adults, he said it was much easier for their limbs to be stuck in the gap of escalators.
In February this year, a three-year-old lost his foot in an escalator mishap at KL Sentral.
A traumatising incident for the child, Dr Dalvinder recalled it was such a worrying and sad situation then because virtually everyone present seemed more interested in their phones than to render help.
“The boy had his hand stuck in the escalator for 15 minutes before I came, and nobody was doing anything to help. Instead, they started taking out their handphones to take photos and videos.
“This is getting too much because we have a child stuck down there who clearly needs help and everyone seemed to be more concerned with their phones. That is worrying because your action shows what is in your heart.”
Dr Dalvinder opined that if the boy was left unattended for a prolonged period, the blood supply would be affected, the cells will die, and infections set in.
“In some cases, if the bleeding is too profuse, you may have to amputate to remove the child because it is better to sacrifice the limb and to save a life.
“Helping out another person seemed like a natural thing to do. No one can help everyone, but everyone can help somebody.”