Sunday the 22nd of December was a regular day of work at their drinks stall for Mr. Tan Ah Guan, until it was closing time and he heard his daughter screaming in pain. 14-year-old Tan Li Xuan, a secondary school student was helping him out in the stall.
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Upon rushing to check on her, to his horror he found that Li Xuan had got her right hand stuck in the sugar cane juicer. Even though Mr. Tan was in shock he reacted immediately and cut off the power to the machine.
The new Paper stated that ‘the machine exerted so much pressure on Tan Li Xuan’s hand that it crushed three fingers and tore off the skin on the wrist’. Mr. Tan called the police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), who then rushed to the stall at Toa Payoh Lorong 8 Food Centre.
It was reported that it took the SCDF 30 minutes to dismantle the machine and free the girl’s hand. She was then taken to Tan Tock Seng hospital for treatment, where she underwent an operation to transplant one of her toes to save her partially severed right thumb. Unfortunately Li Xuan lost the two other fingers that got caught in the juicer.
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Mr. Tan had forbidden his three teenage children from operating their old sugar cane machine and had recently purchased a new safer machine. Tan Li Xuan’s grandmother stated that she suspected the teen was trying to dislodge a piece of sugar cane stuck in the machine when the accident happened.
Continue reading on to the next page for the rest of this story…
A Special Visitor for Li Xuan
At hospital after her ordeal, Li Xuan received a visit from a special guest – Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. PM Lee took a picture with the family beside Li Xuan’s bed at Tan Tock Seng Hospital which he later posted on facebook adding “Glad that she is healing, and she and her family are keeping their spirits up.”
PM Lee lifted the Teen’s spirits by relating an inspiring story about a United States civil war veteran John Wesley Powell, who lost an arm in the war but went on to lead an expedition down the Colorado River and discover the Grand Canyon.
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On his post PM Lee also added “I wished Li Xuan a speedy recovery and a successful rehabilitation, and encouraged her to continue to pursue her dreams.”
We too at The Asian Parent wish Li Xuan a quick recovery.
Household appliances and child safety
Even though the sugar cane machine is not a ‘household appliance’ per se, what can we as parents learn from this teen’s ordeal when it comes to child safety and household appliances? Babies and toddlers are at a higher risk of hurting themselves as they are not capable of making a judgement of what is hazardous to them. Here are a few tips that will help you.
1. Do not leave wires of appliances dangling from counter tops, a curious child can pull on the cord and the appliance can come crashing down onto their head or body.
Household appliances can be very intriguing to a curious little one.
2. Do not use blenders, toasters and other appliances in your child’s presence. It’s best to have a safety gate at the kitchen if that’s where you operate these appliances to avoid your kid coming near them.
3. After using these household appliances, unplug them and put them away in a cupboard to which your little one doesn’t have access to.
4. An Iron can be extremely hazardous to a small child. Make sure you use it only when your little one is taking a nap or is out of the house. After use, DO NOT leave it lying around, store it with it’s cord wrapped up in an place that is unreachable to your child.
5. Power tools are especially hazardous to children. Be sure all tools are turned off and locked away when not in use.
6. Children can get themselves entangled, worse – strangled on appliance wires such as that of vacuum cleaners that are left loose around the house. Make sure wires are not frayed and plug points not exposed when using these machines. Its best to use these when your kids are absent and store them away after use.
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We hope these tips will be helpful to you and make you more aware of the hazards common household appliances could pose. Please do leave us a comment below if you know of more safety tips that could help other parents out there.
Source of story: https://www.straitstimes.com; https://www.tnp.sg; https://therealsingapore.com