i was awaken by loud forceful knocks on my door – in an instant i knew something have gone wrong.

“abbas, he had an accident.. it’s bad.”  one of our assistant drillers muttered.  i half-ran towards the office where i found him seated on one of the chairs, his body shaking, crying for allah.. and saw him clasping his right fingers.

he got his finger cut off. 

“one of the most common injuries on a gas or oil rig are finger injuries.  the rig itself is a gallery of pinch points wherein a worker can get a finger trapped, mashed, lacerated or even worse, amputated.”

after rendering first aid at the rig clinic, i accompanied him in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.  his co-workers managed to find his dismembered distal middle phalanx that i brought with me on which unfortunately, cannot be saved.  he kept on telling me that he was “sorry”, so i reminded him that it was unexpected and not his fault.

accidents do happen – even if it’s not friday the 13th.