NEWSLETTER

CHRIS NIERATKO - SECTION 2

Photo by Chris Nieratko

MY FRIEND DEVON, WHO IS MISSING A PINKIE
by Chris Nieratko

Vice: So what happened?

Devon: In 1996, while driving back from California, the Jeep that I was in flipped 10 to 15 times. My seatbelt broke and the Jeep rolled over my hand and arm.

Were you on drugs?

I wasn’t, but there was a possibility that my friend’s boyfriend who was driving was drinking or smoking pot. His toxicology report came back positive but he was in a coma for about six months afterward and he had very little recollection of the evening when he woke up. I don’t remember seeing him drinking, and we were all underage. It’s hard to say. Everyone who was in the accident either has brain damage or died so there’s no real definitive witness on what happened.

Did your finger get ripped clean off or was it dangling?

Actually three of my fingers were cut off from the outermost edge of my hand to the middle knuckle of my middle finger. They reattached all three but because I was in some crackhead hospital in the desert they didn’t think to put my hand in ice. I was helicoptered from California to Arizona and didn’t have surgery until late that evening. By that point my finger had just kind of died due to lack of blood. They reattached it but they ended up amputating it a few days later.

So you didn’t have to wander around looking for your torn-off fingers?

No. They were kind of dangling by skin. I was in shock and just got up and started walking down the road and somebody stopped. I remember a guy taking off his shirt and wrapping my hand. It was all kind of flopping around. I didn’t feel any pain. I wasn’t aware of anything. I cut up my feet walking on glass, my knees were jacked from getting thrown out of the car, my hands, arms, and face had injuries, I partially collapsed one of my lungs, and I bruised my liver. But I didn’t feel anything. It didn’t start to hurt until I was in the hospital for a few days and then I was in excruciating pain for a year and half.

Do you get phantom-pinkie feelings?

I always feel phantom pinkie. I don’t remember that it’s gone until I see it’s not there. I miss wearing gloves. I’m tired of cutting the finger off and sewing them. I lived in Chicago for four years and mittens aren’t really high fashion. I can’t do the metal horns, and I miss that too. I mean, I can do one but sometimes the moment calls for double metal horns and I just can’t do it. It’s a bummer. But it makes my pinkie swears worth way more than anyone else’s since I only have one.


CONTINUED
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