After his brother's passing, a 50-year-old beverage stall hawker at Maxwell Food Centre suffered a severe injury on his first day back at work.

He lost three fingers after an accident when washing the stall's sugarcane juice machine on the night of Nov. 23.

Had just settled his deceased brother's affairs

The hawker, Zheng Jingbao (transliteration from Mandarin), told Shin Min Daily News that he had been running the stall with his elder brother since taking over from their mother in 2000.

Zheng's late brother had been in charge of the sugarcane juice machine.

However, about a week prior to the accident, he passed away from lung cancer.

Zheng reopened the stall on Nov. 23 after handling his brother's affairs.

Accident took place on his first day back

The accident happened at around 10pm that night, when Zheng was closing the stall and cleaning the sugarcane juice machine.

He was washing the lower rollers with the machine switched on — the typical way to clean it — when his left middle finger and index finger got caught.

However, he didn't realise what had happened until a diner in front of his stall shouted a warning.

"At that time, I only felt numbness in my left hand, and had no sensation until I was rescued. Then the pain hit me," Zheng admitted.

Another stall owner who rushed over to help said that Zheng's face was completely pale at this point.

The rescue

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) confirmed with Mothership that they received a call for assistance at 10:45pm, regarding a man's left hand being trapped in a sugarcane juice machine at a drink stall.

SCDF firefighters and the elite Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) were activated for the rescue operation.

An SCDF paramedic also administered painkillers to Zheng and monitored his vital signs as the operation was carried out.

Shin Min reported that a repairman from the machine's supplier came down to provide assistance.

The repairman reportedly managed to operate the roller in reverse and Zheng's trapped hand was freed at about 11:40pm.

Zheng said that when he mustered up the courage to peek at his freed hand, it was completely bloody.

He was then brought conscious to Singapore General Hospital, SCDF said.

Left with two fingers on left hand

The subsequent operation on Zheng's hand took about 16 hours, Shin Min reported.

Doctors, however, were unable to save his index and middle fingers, and his pinky finger had also been amputated due to infection.

Zheng, who was left with two fingers on his left hand, was devastated.

Doctors said he would need to be hospitalised for three to four weeks, but did not give him a timeline for recovery, Zheng shared.

"I don't know if I will still be able to work in the future. I can only wait till I recover, [so] I can return to the stall and try [operating it again]. Or maybe, I will ask my family to come down and help out," he said.

Zheng also revealed that he had gone through a divorce earlier in the year.

His ex-wife is currently taking care of their children, who are in Primary One and Secondary One.

Vendors band together to help

A hawker interviewed by Shin Min shared that many vendors are concerned about Zheng, and a few have appealed to the authorities on his behalf for his stall rent to be reduced.

Four to five vendors have also indicated they want to donate to help him through this period.

Another stall owner said she hopes other donors can come forward to aid him through this tough time.

Zheng told Shin Min that he received a number of calls from concerned hawkers, and some of them came to visit him.

He said he is grateful for the care everyone has shown to him.

Top image from Shin Min Daily News.