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The family of a third grade student in Missouri is outraged and demanding answers after their child’s finger was severed at school.
Atlanta Black Star reported doctors amputated nine-year-old DJ Williams’ finger after the injury was left unaddressed for too long.
You can see local news coverage here:
Williams described how he slipped on his backpack and was trying to break his fall when the accident happened.
“I used these three fingers to kind of pull myself. My middle finger was on the edge of it, and then it cut it.”
Williams’ mother Talisa Pierce was told by school officials her son tripped into a metal cabinet and sustained a “gash” on his right hand's middle finger, but the injury was more severe than described.
The family’s lawyer, Tim Engelmeyer, shared details about the injury, describing it as more than just a “gash.”
“[DJ’s] finger is literally hanging on the file cabinet."
"So this is not something where it was just a scratch or a little bit of skin that was taken off, there’s a significant part of his finger that everyone knew had been removed from his hand.”
The boy’s grandfather, Larry Pierce, was called to pick him up.
He was shocked to see the bone sticking out of Williams’ finger:
“The [school] nurse says, ‘OK, he cut his hand.’ Didn’t say how bad it was but said take him to urgent care."
"They unwrap it and immediately said, ‘Oh no. We can’t treat this. His finger is gone.”
Medical professionals at the Missouri Baptist Hospital emergency room were unable to re-attach the child’s finger.
Williams was then transferred to the St. Louis Children’s Hospital so that surgeons could perform the amputation.
The family is now claiming the amputation was the result of the schools “negligence.”
"Any chances there were to re-attach the part of the finger that was lost, those chances kind of went out the window when emergency, 911 wasn’t called.:
Pierce also claims that the school nurse sent her a picture of a portion of the finger that was still attached to the metal furniture, and that she went to the school and picked up the piece in hopes that a specialist can help her son.
Pierce is, of course, heartbroken for her son, who wishes to play professional basketball one day.
But the third grader is keeping optimistic about his future in sports.
“I just got to think about basketball."
“If I think about it enough, then I won’t give up.”
Per Fox 2 St. Louis, the only comment the school will make is a statement released on April 19, a day after the accident.
"Webster Groves School District is aware of reports of an accident, a fall, that occurred at Bristol Elementary School on Monday, April 18, 2022, that may have resulted in injury to a student requiring medical attention."
"The District is always concerned for and committed to the health and safety of its students and is currently investigating the accident in question."
According to the family, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon is waiting to determine if Williams needs his entire hand removed.