Girl with horrific ‘wobbling’ sliced finger left in pool of blood at Subway store

A YOUNG girl who sliced the top of her finger in a broken chair at a fast food restaurant – leaving it ‘wobbling’ and ‘pouring with blood’ – was left in agony.

Twelve-year-old Rose Rowe suffered the grotesque injury at Subway in Gunwharf Quays – resulting in her requiring an operation at Queen Alexandra Hospital to save the top of her little finger.

The girl’s mum Maria Cleary, 36, has been left furious by the handling of the incident from Subway staff as her daughter was left in excruciating pain and only offered tissues and a plaster.

Rose, who was in the sandwich shop with her cousin, attempted to stem the flow of blood from her sliced finger while mopping up blood from the floor.

The enraged mum said the broken chair along with three others has now been removed from the food outlet.

Ms Cleary, of Cosham, told The News: ‘Rose sliced her finger in a broken chair after a pad came out of the metal base. Her finger went in the gap and sliced through the top of her finger leaving her with blood pouring out and it wobbling as if it was about to fall off.

‘My girl was in a lot of pain and did not know what to do. Staff in Subway just watched on before eventually offering her a plaster, tissues and ibuprofen.

‘The staff didn’t know what to do. They just left Rose in a pool of blood trying to stop the bleeding and mopping up the blood on the floor.

‘I am totally shocked at how badly Subway handled this. There was no duty of care and staff did not know what they were doing. She needed an operation and five stitches to save the finger.

‘I’m very surprised the management at Gunwharf allow places like that to operate if they don’t have proper practices in place for incidents like that.

‘Subway should have been shut down afterwards as there was blood all over the floor that was not properly cleaned up. I’m sure the food standards agency would not be happy about such a thing taking place.’

The concerned mum now wants to warn other parents. She added: ‘Subway had faulty chairs in their restaurant which they have now removed but how long before they have other dangerous and damaged chairs? Parents need to know the situation.’

The manager of the Subway store, who did not want to be named, said: ‘Staff offered the girl a plaster and tissues and asked to see if she needed any more help but she said she didn’t and then left the store.’

He then added: ‘There was no blood. Our staff are medically trained and we have first aid and if there is a serious situation then staff know to push a button for the Gunwharf medical team to come out.’

The manager did concede, however, that events could have been handled differently. He said: ‘I was not there when it happened. If I had been there I wouldn’t have left anyone where there was blood. It could all be miscommunication.’

Referring to the chair, he added: ‘Our chairs were not broken but we have removed it anyway as it is better for the public. Sometimes people put too much pressure on the chairs and fingers get caught in the gap.’