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A game of tug-of-war resulted in the loss of multiple fingers for two students at a Los Angeles County high school on Monday, officials said.
Students at South El Monte High School were competing against each other in a lunchtime game when the rope snapped, amputating four fingers from a male student's right hand and four fingers from a female student's right hand, plus the thumb on her left hand, Los Angeles County supervising fire dispatcher Eddie Pickett told NBC News.
The students, both 18 years old, were transported to a trauma center, he said. Another 17-year-old female student was taken to a trauma center for anxiety, he said.
"They are both stable and the parents were by their bedside," Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center spokeswoman Rosa Sacca told The San Gabriel Valley Tribune on Monday. "They were getting ready to be taken to the operating room to try to re-attach the fingers."
No update on the students' surgery was provided, and a call from NBC News to the medical center was not returned Tuesday morning.
Pickett said he believed the amputations occurred because the rope was actually wrapped around the students' hands, instead of just being grasped in their hands. He told NBC News that the extra force caused the rope to snap, which then resulted in the injuries.
The game was part of a Spirit Week at South El Monte High School, according to The San Gabriel Valley Tribune. The girl who lost her fingers is varsity soccer player, and the boy is a football player, reported the paper.
The school hasn't said if it will cancel future tug-of-war games.
"We'll review the activity with district administration," El Monte Union High School District Assistant Superintendent Edward Zuniga told The San Gabriel Valley Tribune. "We're in the early stages. We just want to make sure we have all the facts straight before we talk about changing activities."
NBC's Liza Torres contributed to this report from Burbank, Calif.
Leave a Comment:
OK then, let's outlaw ropes. The are responsible for death associated with hanging, loss of digits, and of course bondage. How many more tragedies have to occur. This tragedy would not of occurred if they limited the number of students to just 10. No one needs a rope that can hold more than 10 people in a tug of war. A smaller capacity rope would have saved digits.
OOOOOuch! Crap. They will sue the school cuz they allowed them to play Tug-o-war. Good lord
So sad...The kids were doing something fun and active only to have it end up like this. I hope they both have a complete reattachment of their fingers and speedy recovery.
These kids will never text again, the damages in the lawsuit will be astronomical.
It had to be BAD rope.....that more than likely had fibers like nylon in it. Otherwise it would not had CUT their fingers off. Every tug O war I was ever in we all wrapped the rope around our hands at least once. Where the anchor person ahd it around their forarms and body. This is just a very sad thing to happen and I pray that the sugeries work for the to reattach the digets. They need to change the rope or stop from doing that OR better yet have it SUPERVISED.
This has happen before; the cause then was the improper selection of rope, if not damaged or poorly maintained.
There is a lot of rope made of plastic, and it is this rope that should never be used, SHOULD NEVER BE USED.
The only kind of rope to use in this event is manila 'hemp' (Abacá) rope, 2 inch plus, selected and of sufficient strength be much greater than the force being applied.
First it is dangerous to use any rope that breaks, too small, or polyethylene is disaster. Never use polyethylene to pull a vehicle.
Second is dangerous to use rope that stretches too much, it stores energy in the strain, that is released on breaking or letting go, the snap back can remove fingers easily.
Somehow some way, schools, need some instruction as to what equipment is safe to use.
While there are man-made engineered fibers, that have high strength, and low elasticity, these should too be expensive.
Look at the rating on the various kinds of rope offered in hardware stores the rating for manila 'hemp' (Abacá) rope is substantially higher than any plastic.
Every product has its hazards, misuse and unpredictability are tempting.
Think deeply, you can buy very strong string, having small (sharp?) diameters, but, if it gets tangled in moving machinery, or as Charley Brown's kite in a hungry tree, the string will not break, and warping hands around it will remove fingers, if not cut badly.
So what to do? Research 'tug-o-war' applications for rope, print a one page warning message, and have it mounted on the wall of the equipment room.
Don't cut your fingers while mounting the warning sign.
I know that the vast majority of the public and upcoming generations do not have experience with these very physical things, farm work, rigging, cutting fire wood, experience with nautical equipment. So stay away from it.
We have IPhone APPS, while you are having your finger reattached, and are trying to get those damaged nerves regrown (if feels like your fingers are stuck in an electric socket for about a year). Make an App for tug-of-war rope safety, the exercise is good for the remaining fingers.
If can't avoid injury, you can prepare for the emergency. Keep supply a of zip-lock bags handy for placing detached fingers, to take with you to the hospital, the surgeon will need them nearby. Ignore the bleeding as it should stop after a while, and pick up the detached fingers put in a clean new bag. DO NOT put ice in the same bag, put any ice in separate bag. Do not use very cold ice, you don't want to freeze the parts, add water to ice bang only to temper the ice to 32 degrees. With your remaining fingers dial 911, explain the detachment problem, and inform them that a reattachment surgeon will be needed.
All tug-of-war games in high school should be banned!!!! That's how the liberal left will re-act.
I fail to understand how a "nylon rope" amputated fingers of both the parties because it snapped. Theres something fishy here!
Ban fun...it's taking off kids fingers
Must have been an Assault Style Rope.
We need to ban "tug of war" stunts immediately and post armed school security guards.
So much for her dream of being Senior Year Double Handjob Queen. You can forget that.
Classy!
That's probably the first time that "classy" has ever been directed at Joe. Good one!
This is what happens without adult supervision. Adults know not to wrap the rope around their hands. Kids do not know that.
Poor KIDS! Hopefully, their fingers can be reattached successfully and life can go on normally. It's going to be a long haul for them- blessings to them as they deal with this horror.
Similar happened in ~ 1966 with US East Coast undergraduates attempting a Guinness Record tug-of-war. Nylon ropes STRETCH and then RECOIL violently when broken. (Their rope was LARGE in diameter.) Some 20 students lost primarily 1 or 2 thumbs - plus other digits. And these people did not have their (very LARGE in diameter) nylon rope wrapped their hands / fingers.
No HISTORY - then repeat same. Tragic.
When I was working at the harbor, a ship's mooring line snapped and took the head off of a longshoreman.
I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow to the knee
An arrow to the knee? I will pass on that adventure.
Maybe some politicians will get behind this and finally create effective legislation to make ropes illegal.
BAN TUG OF WAR IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!!!! Get the president to propose a ban on this highly dangerous activity!!! We must protect our children's fingers!!!
Yowza. Hopefully the fingers aren't too mangled and allow for straightforward attachment.
"The school hasn't said if it will cancel future tug-of-war games." With idiots like this, it's no wonder the students are failing.
See if they were doing something like competitive shooting this would not have happened - no one ever lost a finger when we did bow and arrow and shooting.
Had a friend that lost half of his index finger he was pretty upset cause he could only count to 9 1/2
Thanks for the chuckle, wytravlr!
I'm no physics professor, so someone needs to explain to me how a rope snapping will cut off fingers. Even wrapping your hands in it since the energy contained in the rope is released starting from the point of breakage and then weakens as it travels the length of the rope. Were the kids who lost fingers up front, closest to the break? Somebody chime in and help this Grunt understand!
my guess is they were up front and they were using piano wire for a rope -
If the rope is wrapped around a person's hand. The shear force of twenty students pulling the rope can sever a hand.
i guess she wont be giving any of the boys a hand job in the near future :)
Oh, teachers! Don't let kids wrap the rope around their hands. Don't let them cast their hands in a bucket of wet plaster (a girl in England lost both hands in art class). Don't let them play a marshmallow game called Fluffy Bunny (marshmallows are difficult to extract, hindering resuscitation). Don't let little kids eat the raw beans while making dry macaroni and bean art (raw beans are deadly). And MANY more.
I'm wondering why these warnings aren't part of their yearly first-aid certification. Do they have first-aid training?
Yes. All teachers have first aid training.