OAP has finger ripped off after fall on ice in Ayr street

Jan 1 2010 by Stuart Wilson, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

AN OAP ripped off his finger after slipping on ice.

Distraught John Docherty was helping his wife into their house with shopping.

But disaster struck when he lost his footing in the treacherous conditions and impaled himself on a railing.

Surgeons at Glasgow’s Royal Infirmary battled to save the ring finger before finally admitting defeat.

John, of Ayr’s St George’s Street, now has the option of a further operation to move his pinkie finger in place of the amputated ring finger.

Wife Sheena revealed: “John had come out from the house when he saw me struggling to get inside with the shopping.

“It was so difficult just to walk on the pavement and he ended up slipping and catching himself on the railing.

“I just panicked when I saw his hand. It was a horrible sight.

“Being that particular finger made it more upsetting – we’ll have been married for 40 years soon.

“But thankfully we managed to find the ring later on.”

John, 67, then endured a painful taxi journey to Glasgow while holding his finger in a bag.

Attempts to re-attach it proved fruitless and Sheena is in no doubt her husband’s accident could have been avoided.

She said: “What happened was horrendous and I don’t know why they can’t grit pavements at the same time as doing roads.”