'This is horrifying': Doctor warns of finger-amputation risk from common restaurant chairs

An X-ray image of a finger amputation injury [Photo captured from professor Lee Ho-hyung's social media]

"Once you've been through it, even just looking at that chair is terrifying." — accident survivor

"Someone I know had to have a metal pin surgically inserted into their fingertip." — online commenter

An X-ray image is drawing widespread attention online. It was posted by Lee Ho-hyung, a professor at Hanyang University Hospital who specializes in reconstructive surgery for trauma and amputation patients, and it shows a severed finger.

The culprit is a cylindrical storage stool — commonly known as a "tin-can chair" — found at Korean barbecue and grilled offal restaurants, where it is used to store coats and bags. When a diner absentmindedly sits down with a finger caught inside the open lid, amputation can occur. A single moment of inattention can lead to a serious injury.

Lee posted on his social media Friday that the chair is "something people really should be more careful around."

"Strictly speaking, it's not furniture, but this chair you commonly see at Korean barbecue and grilled offal restaurants is genuinely dangerous," Lee said. He added that he had personally treated five finger-amputation patients injured by the chair, and warned that "these accidents require lengthy reattachment surgery and often leave significant lasting complications."

A restaurant interior featuring cylindrical storage stools [Image generated with ChatGPT AI]

Such accidents often happen when diners pull the stool toward them, turn it around, or place a hand on top without noticing the lid is open before sitting down.

Lee urged the public to be cautious, saying "a momentary lapse in attention can trigger a serious accident."

One internet user who said they had experienced such an accident described pulling the stool over to sit down without realizing the lid had come open. "My finger got caught and I nearly suffered a serious injury," the user wrote. "When your finger is trapped, the pain makes it impossible to lift your body — so your own weight ends up pressing down on the finger even harder."

Other users shared similar accounts: one said a finger caught in the same type of chair drew blood from beneath the nail; another said a friend had to undergo surgery to have a metal pin inserted into a fingertip after the same kind of accident; and a third wrote that despite reattachment surgery, the injured finger ended up shorter than the one on the other hand. "You really have to be careful," they added.

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