Frostbite would be the least of people's worries in tropical Singapore, but for minimart owner Ng Hoe Ghee, his middle finger of his left hand is now a stump after it got permanently damaged and subsequently infected from prolonged exposure to extreme cold while cleaning out his ice cream freezer.
The 42-year-old shop owner had forgotten to switch off his freezer and allow the ice to melt before cleaning it out last month, The New Paper reports. In a moment of absent-mindedness, Ng spent 25 minutes scraping off all the ice that had built up in the freezer, using his hands to scoop them out. It left his left middle finger numb and looking a little pale, but he thought nothing of it, completely unaware that it was frostbitten.
Two days later, the numbness still remained and started to swell up. Ng still thought nothing of it and simply punctured the swelling to let the pus out and applied medicated oil on it.
Another two days later, the finger took on a purplish tinge, and still Ng wouldn't seek medical help. Ironically, he visited a relative in hospital but nobody noticed his clearly frostbitten finger as he wore a glove to avoid terrifying people. He simply took Panadols in an attempt to relieve the pain.
Ng finally sought out help at a general practitioner who immediately directed him to Singapore General Hospital — gangrene had already settled deep in his finger. He had to go through four operations and an aggressive course of antibiotics during his 12-day hospital stay, now left with only a stump where the finger used to be.
Doctors informed him that the finger turned gangrenous as he did not seek treatment immediately, and his Type 2 diabetes only made the injury worse by hampering his body's ability to self-heal.
He has since returned to tend to his business at the shops he own — a digit less but still alive to tell the precautionary tale.
Photo: Newtown grafitti via Flickr
Frostbite would be the least of people's worries in tropical Singapore, but for minimart owner Ng Hoe Ghee, his middle finger of his left hand is now a stump after it got permanently damaged and subsequently infected from prolonged exposure to extreme cold while cleaning out his ice cream freezer.
The 42-year-old shop owner had forgotten to switch off his freezer and allow the ice to melt before cleaning it out last month, The New Paper reports. In a moment of absent-mindedness, Ng spent 25 minutes scraping off all the ice that had built up in the freezer, using his hands to scoop them out. It left his left middle finger numb and looking a little pale, but he thought nothing of it, completely unaware that it was frostbitten.
Two days later, the numbness still remained and started to swell up. Ng still thought nothing of it and simply punctured the swelling to let the pus out and applied medicated oil on it.
Another two days later, the finger took on a purplish tinge, and still Ng wouldn't seek medical help. Ironically, he visited a relative in hospital but nobody noticed his clearly frostbitten finger as he wore a glove to avoid terrifying people. He simply took Panadols in an attempt to relieve the pain.
Ng finally sought out help at a general practitioner who immediately directed him to Singapore General Hospital — gangrene had already settled deep in his finger. He had to go through four operations and an aggressive course of antibiotics during his 12-day hospital stay, now left with only a stump where the finger used to be.
Doctors informed him that the finger turned gangrenous as he did not seek treatment immediately, and his Type 2 diabetes only made the injury worse by hampering his body's ability to self-heal.
He has since returned to tend to his business at the shops he own — a digit less but still alive to tell the precautionary tale.
Photo: Newtown grafitti via Flickr