A New York man has been left without a thump after the self-closing doors on his $70,000 BMW chopped it off.
Godwin Boateng, 61, carried his severed right thumb into hospital, but doctors were not able to re-attach it because of the way it had been sliced from his hand.
He is now suing the German car-maker, claiming the X5’s door was ‘nothing short of a guillotine’ and that the sensors were faulty.
A New York man has been left without a thump after the self-closing doors on his $70,000 BMW X5 (pictured, stock) chopped it off
Mr Boateng, who occasionally wears a fake thumb from a $3 magician’s kit to hide and protect his injury, told the New York Post: ‘I carried my thumb into the hospital, and they said, “What happened to you?”.
‘I said, “My car door”. I’m holding my thumb, they took it and put it on ice.’
The software engineer faced an agonizing wait, but he was eventually told his digit could not be saved.
His lawyer Avi Cohen told the paper there was something wrong with the design of the SUV.
The incident happened back in July 2016 when he was stood with his hand in the driver’s door column, according to the Post.
It’s claimed the door was one foot ajar when the SCAD (Soft Closing Automatic Doors) sensor activated an electric motor.
This then pulled the door, according to Mr Boateng’s lawyer, ‘firmly’ and not ‘so softly’, snapping through his thumb.
Godwin Boateng, 61, carried his severed right thumb into hospital, but doctors were not able to re-attach it because of the way it had been sliced from his hand. He is now suing the German carmaker, claiming the X5’s door was ‘nothing short of a guillotine’ and that the sensors were faulty (stock image)
The 61-year-old is still in pain 18 months and two operations later.
Being right-handed, he is unable to perform simple tasks such as fastening buttons and tying his shoes.
BMW declined to comment when approached by the Post, citing pending litigation amid the suit for unspecified damages.