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Firefighters Free Child's Finger Stuck In Metal Pipe

FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – MCaleb Hernandez found out that a little curiosity plus a little hole equals big trouble, after he nearly lost his finger.

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Firefighters help a boy who got his finger stuck in a metal pipe. (Photo source: FLFD)

A hole in a metal bed post was just big enough for the 12-year-old to wiggle his pinky finger through Wednesday night.

"The way they drilled the hole, it's jagged on the other side," said Hernandez. "I couldn't get it out."

After three or four painful tugs, and help from his brother and mom, fire fighters were called to the Fort Lauderdale home.

They took the bed frame apart, and tried every oil, soap, and ice to free the finger.

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A child's finger after being removed from a metal pipe. (Photo source: FLFD)

When that failed, the 12-year-old was taken to the emergency room where stumped doctors and nurses said they might have to cut off the finger.

Click here to watch the report.

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Firefighters work to free a child's finger that was stuck in a metal pipe. (Photo source: FLFD)

"I was trying to keep it as a joke because I didn't want to scare him," said Irelys Uzcatguy, Hernandez's mother. "We were joking about him having nine more other fingers."

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Firefighters pose with a boy who had his finger freed from a pipe. (Photo source: FLFD)

Losing a finger wasn't an option for firefighters. They worked for two hours, to pull apart the stubborn metal with hand tools, finally opening up just enough space to free the bloody finger.

The fire department said it took two hours because fire fighters couldn't use metal electrical tools. Metal on metal creates friction and could have burned Hernandez. Fire fighters used hand tools and a lot of elbow grease to free the pinky.

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