Shahar Madjar, MD
A week before Christmas, a 59-year-old housewife lost the tip of her middle finger. The finger belonged to her left, dominant hand. The accident happened while she was posting a Christmas card through a neighbor’s mailbox. The mailbox had a spring-loaded flap that snapped down on the finger as she pushed the envelope through the opening. She instinctively, quickly withdrew her trapped digit. The sharp edge of the mailbox acted as a blade and the finger-tip was amputated. She underwent surgery and was discharged home in time to celebrate Christmas. This incident happened in Nottingham, England, where a mailbox is referred to as ‘letterbox.’ It was later described in the British Journal of Plastic Surgery as the ‘Guillotine Letter Box.’