"The end of my finger got pinched, like you do in a closet door, and when I reflexively pulled it away, I was shocked at the blood," says Bobbie Haverly. "And I didn't know where my fingertip was, and it was stuck in the metal box."
A Florida grandmother who claims she severed her finger in a library drop box is now suing the city.
Bobbie Haverly, 62, told WESH that the horrifying incident occurred at the W.T. Bland Library in Mount Dora on July 28 when she went to return a library book.
After seeing the line, Haverly said that she decided it would be quicker to just used the drop box. When she put the book in, Haverly says the metal door quickly snapped back on her finger.
"The end of my finger got pinched, like you do in a closet door, and when I reflexively pulled it away, I was shocked at the blood," she told WESH. "And I didn't know where my fingertip was, and it was stuck in the metal box."
Things could have gone from bad to worse at that moment, but luckily Haverly is a registered nurse and she says that she immediately sprang into action.
Haverly got her hand in ice water immediately while a library employee got her fingertip from the book drop. That too went into ice water, said Haverly, who hoped she might be able to salvage her finger.
A month later, Haverly is on the mend but still experiencing severe pain, which is why she decided to file a lawsuit, she told WESH.
Inside Edition Digital reached out to Haverly's lawyer Christopher Largey, but he did not respond to a request for comment. The city of Mount Dora declined to comment citing the lawsuit.
There is already one major change at the library, where a new sign hangs above the book return which reads: ""Please do not place your hand inside the book drop."
In the end, Haverly spent two days in the hospital where she underwent surgery, but ultimately doctors were not able to successfully reattach her finger.
