Mum nearly chops off fingers in front of screaming kids while feeding elephants

A mum's visit while on holiday ended in a bloodbath after she nearly hacked off two of her own fingers with a machete in front of her screaming children as she was cutting fruit.

Tavy Cussinel took her three daughters to an ethical elephant sanctuary on March 4 as part of a 10-day trip , as it's something they had always wanted to do. But as the 48-year-old was chopping up fruit for the animals the machete "glanced" off a pineapple and lodged into her left-hand middle and ring fingers.

The horrified mum feared she'd cut her fingers off as she could see her bones, leaving 14-year-old daughter Margo Cussinel screaming in terror while Tilda Cussinel, 11 and eight-year-old Saffron Cussinel looked on in shock.

READ MORE:

READ MORE:

After patching it up, Tavy jetted home, where she discovered she'd severed the tendon in her middle finger and had to have surgery to reattach it. While the global communications consultant says the experience was still 'worth it', she's now warning other tourists to be careful when visiting elephant sanctuaries.

Tavy, from Hackney, London, said: "I never expected that to happen on a fun day out with my kids. I thought I could've lost my finger, all of that was running through my brain, I thought I'd cut my fingers off but I hadn't. We went into the elephant market and we were all given a basket and could choose what we wanted to feed the elephants and then chop them all up. I wanted to educate my daughters and they were enamoured with these huge incredible beasts.

"My kids went first but I wasn't frightened at all as they're handy around knives, they've helped me prepare and cook food at home, so I didn't see there being any risk at all. They cut up everything in the basket and I said 'I'd like a go'. I selected a pineapple and the machete glanced off it and went straight into my hand.

"It must've been the angle I threw it down. It slid off into my finger that was holding the back of the pineapple. It hit my middle finger and my ring finger. I could see straight away see my bone and my knuckle on my middle finger and it just started p***ing blood everywhere.

"My eldest daughter was just screaming and shouting for help. The other two were just quite shocked and stood there staring. The nurse came running with a medical kit and elevated my hand and put loads of ice on it and kept rinsing it out with saline solution.

"He bandaged it up really carefully. I wanted to continue the tour as I wanted my kids not to miss out." Tavy went to an international medical clinic where her fingers were stitched up and she was given a tetanus shot, pain medication and antibiotics.

After flying home with her daughters on March 6th, an X-ray and a specialised ultrasound revealed the mum had severed the tendon in her middle finger and she had an operation to reattach it. Tavy said: "I was determined not to let it ruin our holiday. I got the dressings changed as soon as I got back.

"My middle finger had started to curl up backwards but when the nurse changed the dressing she said there was no infection but it 'didn't look right'. She got the doctor in and she said 'I think you've severed the tendon' so I had an operation to reattach the tendon with anchorage onto the bone.

"I had five stitches to start with and now I have 10 that go right across my finger. I have the bandages changed every other day. The swelling is going down but I still have a metal pin in my middle finger holding it straight so the tendons can reattach.

"My middle finger has been completely immobile for three weeks and I can't bend it. The animal lover said she doesn't want her freak accident to put tourists off visiting sanctuaries helping to save and rehabilitate elephants back into the wild, but is warning people to be careful when handling knives.

Tavy said: "I'm a little bit cautious about using knives, I must admit. I can't really chop vegetables that easily because I can't grip them. My message would be don't let something like this put you off. It was still worth it because the sanctuary is amazing for the work they do. Just be careful and maybe not get involved too much with the machetes or be very, very careful. It was just a freak accident."