Today Show weather presenter Taylor Haynes has opened up about the ongoing complications she has sustained after a crab crushed her finger during a live cross for the breakfast program.
What was supposed to be a TV segment from the Sydney Fish Market in April quickly turned into something more serious for the reporter, when the crab she was holding latched onto her finger – and wouldn’t let go.
In a new interview with the Stellar podcast Something To Talk About, Haynes, who became known as “crab girl” after the viral moment, revealed she has had to undergo rehab to regain feeling in her finger.
“I have a thing called a neuroma. Because my finger was severely crushed by the crab, it has crushed all the nerves. I’ve lost feeling and sensation,” Haynes told podcast host Sarrah Le Marquand.
“I’m doing rehab every week to get movement back into it, and feeling and memory.”
Listen to Taylor on a new episode of the Stellar podcast, Something To Talk About, below:
“I’m seeing a hand surgeon next week to chat further on how we manage this, whether it’s naturally and will take six to 12 months, or we bite the [bullet] and get an operation to reconstruct the nerves.”
While Haynes managed to maintain a straight face during the live cross, once the camera was off, there was complete panic.
“I just screamed and screamed and said ‘Please, I don’t want to lose a finger.’ It still shakes me talking about it,” she told Something To Talk About, in a new episode out today.
“We were getting everything to try to separate those claws.
“My cameraman went running and found these big tongs that were 30cm long that you [use to] pull crabs out of the tank and that finally separated the crab from my finger.”
Haynes said viewers now come up to her constantly to recount their own stories of crustacean survival.
“Some of them were fingerless and said, ‘I didn’t even have half the size of crab as yours that took three of my fingers off.’ I’m extremely lucky.”
The weather presenter still gets DMs and queries from fans asking why her fingers are bandaged, considering the incident happened in early April.
Listen to Taylor on a new episode of the Stellar podcast, Something To Talk About, below:
“I don’t think everyone knows the severity of it, how badly it got me,” she said.
“I know it sounds funny and it looked funny, but I’m so glad I can tell my story, that the severity was quite real.
“I’m a tough girl, I’ve been through much, much worse, and people have been through much worse.
“I felt a bit embarrassed going to hospital that day, but I’m so glad I was pushed to.
“Everyone knew when we walked in [the hospital]. The word spread.
“The people waiting in emergency said, ‘Oh my God, that’s the crab girl.’ The nurses were like, ‘We were wondering which hospital you’d go to; I can’t believe you’re here.’”
Haynes’ mental fortitude comes from her childhood, where she underwent major spinal surgery for scoliosis, and was bedridden for several months.
“I was such a young girl to go through a big experience like that, and this is the first time I’m talking about it,” she told Something To Talk About.
“To this day, I’ve got titanium rods and screws in my spine. I got told by my surgeon I’d never dance again. [As a child, Haynes underwent years of dance training.] Typical me, I’m like, “I’ll prove you wrong.
“Nothing fazes me. And it’s probably why I held a smile in that crab incident, thinking the show must go on. Looking back, it’s so funny. It’s one for the books and [a story] I can eventually tell my grandkids one day.”
Listen to Taylor Haynes on a new episode of the Stellar podcast, Something To Talk About, out now wherever you get your podcasts.
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