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A visit to Winnipeg ended with a life-changing injury for a child earlier this month.
Wadik Zekarias says his three-year-old sister was on a playground merry-go-round at Kildonan Park on Oct. 10 when her finger became stuck in a gap. He said the injury was so bad that most of her pinky later needed to be amputated.
“It’s been, like, really difficult for her,” Zekarias said. “She’s been having nightmares at night, waking up crying and sometimes even having difficulties to sleep.”
Zekarias, 24, and his family were in Winnipeg to visit an aunt for Thanksgiving and were having a gathering at the park at the time of the incident.
They have since returned to Kansas City, Mo., but he said the incident has left them frustrated and seeking answers from the City of Winnipeg on whether the situation could have been prevented. They want to make sure no other family has a similar experience at a park in Manitoba’s capital.
They also expressed disappointment with the response to the incident.
Zekarias said he and his family waited more than 30 minutes for first responders to arrive after calling 911. He also said they had been having difficulty connecting with a 911 operator and that multiple other calls had disconnected.
Zekarias isn’t sure why that was, but a spokesperson said in an email to CBC News the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service is not aware of any 911 outages on Oct. 10.
WATCH | Most of girl’s pinky amputated after playground incident:
3-year-old visiting Winnipeg loses finger after incident at city-run park
A young girl’s life is forever changed after she was seriously injured on a play structure in a city park. She was in Winnipeg with her family from the U.S., but an afternoon at the park ended with the child getting surgery.
“In general, it would not matter if a caller is using a local phone or one from another area, as the call would be connected using local cell towers either way,” part of a statement from a WFPS spokesperson said.
Zekarias also said that when first responders did arrive, they didn’t have lights and sirens on. He also alleged some firefighters were laughing while on the scene.
It didn’t feel like the incident was being treated with urgency, Zekarias said.
“We called the emergency line to get help, as any other person would do, expecting the ambulance and fire department to come there as soon as you receive the call,” he said.
“I know it might take a minute, but it shouldn’t take 35 minutes.”
Once his sister was freed from the merry-go-round, Zekarias said she was taken to Children’s Hospital, where they were told the finger would need to be amputated.
Zekarias said his family thought the decision was made quickly and not “what they wanted to hear” was the only option, so they contacted family members in the medical field.
He also said the hospital told them that because it was a weekend, “There was no other doctor to get her seen by.”
Zekarias says his family doesn’t feel the incident was treated with urgency. (Zoom)
Since the family is from the U.S., they decided to rush to Grand Forks, N.D., where police escorted them to hospital, he said.
Staff there said the options were getting the pinky sewed to her hand, with no ability to use the finger, or, amputation, Zekarias said. The family was told amputation would be the healthiest option in the long run.
“Unfortunately, we had to, you know, sit and make that decision of her getting her pinky amputated,” he said.
City investigating, WFPS reviewing incident
In a statement to CBC News, a city spokesperson said crews removed the equipment from operation at Kildonan Park as soon as they were notified about what happened.
“We never want to see someone get hurt in our parks and continue to investigate the incident,” the statement said.
In a separate statement from the WFPS, a spokesperson said they’re reviewing the incident but couldn’t provide any more details because the response involves personal medical information.
The statement also said the service’s general process is to dispatch firefighters to an “incident of this nature as they are likely to have the tools and training needed to assist.”
All fire crews consist of at least one firefighter-paramedic who can begin treatment, the statement said.
The statement also said that in Manitoba, emergency crews use lights and sirens to request right-of-way and to allow emergency vehicles to reach incidents as “quickly and safely as possible.”
When a crew arrives at a scene and no longer needs to move traffic, crews might turn off the sirens to “reduce anxiety and ensure on scene communication,” the statement said.
Zekarias and his family have filed a claim with the city about the incident.
“We never want a child such as young as my baby sister to go through this again,” he said.