The father of a five-year-old boy today told of the “terrifying” moment his son’s toe was ripped off after his rubber Crocs shoe got stuck in an escalator at a luxury hotel in Dubai.
Stanley Wood was on holiday with his parents Helen and Ben and his seven-year-old sister when the accident happened.
His father told how he had to pull the youngster to safety as the family arrived back at their home in Chiselhurst, southeast London, after an extended stay in hospital in the Gulf emirate.
He said: “We were going down and he started screaming, my wife was holding his hand and shouting that he was stuck. His foot had just gripped like a tyre to the metal of the side.
“As we went down his foot was going further and further in and I had to yank him out. His bone was exposed and there was blood everywhere. It just gobbled his foot up.”
The family were on holiday for Stanley’s birthday which he was forced to spend in hospital after undergoing surgery.
Mrs Wood said in a Facebook post campaigning for awareness of the risks of soft rubber sandals and escalators: “We were not aware of the dangers as it has not been widely publicised and now we think it needs to be something that is more commonly known.”
Mr Wood added: “He is being so brave but he shouldn’t have gone through that. We don’t want any other parents to go through what we did. He thinks his toe is going to grow back like milk teeth, we haven’t the heart to tell him. You don’t lose a big toe and go back to normal.
“Whilst we were waiting on him in hospital we just kept doing research and found out this has happened for years to kids all over - it’s gutting.”
Crocs, which is based in Colorado in the US, did not respond to a request for comment.
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