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. <\/p>\n
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 \u2013 and wouldn\u2019t let go. <\/p>\n
In a new interview with the Stellar podcast Something To Talk About, Haynes, who became known as \u201ccrab girl\u201d after the viral moment, revealed she has had to undergo rehab to regain feeling in her finger. <\/p>\n
\u201cI have a thing called a neuroma. Because my finger was severely crushed by the crab, it has crushed all the nerves. I\u2019ve lost feeling and sensation,\u201d Haynes told podcast host Sarrah Le Marquand. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m doing rehab every week to get movement back into it, and feeling and memory.\u201d <\/p>\n
Listen to Taylor on a new episode of the Stellar podcast, Something To Talk About, below: <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m seeing a hand surgeon next week to chat further on how we manage this, whether it\u2019s naturally and will take six to 12 months, or we bite the [bullet] and get an operation to reconstruct the nerves.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Haynes managed to maintain a straight face during the live cross, once the camera was off, there was complete panic. <\/p>\n
\u201cI just screamed and screamed and said \u2018Please, I don\u2019t want to lose a finger.\u2019 It still shakes me talking about it,\u201d she told Something To Talk About, in a new episode out today.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were getting everything to try to separate those claws.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Haynes said viewers now come up to her constantly to recount their own stories of crustacean survival. <\/p>\n
\u201cSome of them were fingerless and said, \u2018I didn\u2019t even have half the size of crab as yours that took three of my fingers off.\u2019 I\u2019m extremely lucky.\u201d <\/p>\n
The weather presenter still gets DMs and queries from fans asking why her fingers are bandaged, considering the incident happened in early April.<\/p>\n
Listen to Taylor on a new episode of the Stellar podcast, Something To Talk About, below: <\/p>\n
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\u201cI don\u2019t think everyone knows the severity of it, how badly it got me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know it sounds funny and it looked funny, but I\u2019m so glad I can tell my story, that the severity was quite real. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a tough girl, I\u2019ve been through much, much worse, and people have been through much worse. <\/p>\n
\u201cI felt a bit embarrassed going to hospital that day, but I\u2019m so glad I was pushed to.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone knew when we walked in [the hospital]. The word spread. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe people waiting in emergency said, \u2018Oh my God, that\u2019s the crab girl.\u2019 The nurses were like, \u2018We were wondering which hospital you\u2019d go to; I can\u2019t believe you\u2019re here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Haynes\u2019 mental fortitude comes from her childhood, where she underwent major spinal surgery for scoliosis, and was bedridden for several months.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was such a young girl to go through a big experience like that, and this is the first time I\u2019m talking about it,\u201d she told Something To Talk About.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo this day, I\u2019ve got titanium rods and screws in my spine. I got told by my surgeon I\u2019d never dance again. [As a child, Haynes underwent years of dance training.] Typical me, I\u2019m like, \u201cI\u2019ll prove you wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing fazes me. And it\u2019s probably why I held a smile in that crab incident, thinking the show must go on. Looking back, it\u2019s so funny. It\u2019s one for the books and [a story] I can eventually tell my grandkids one day.\u201d <\/p>\n
Listen to Taylor Haynes on a new episode of the Stellar podcast, Something To Talk About<\/a>, out now wherever you get your podcasts. <\/p>\n For more from Stellar, click here<\/a>. <\/p>\n