(Original footage filmed by Ryan Wingfield, syndicated by Summer Gibbs. Original video can be found here)
IMAGINE this: It’s your first-ever festival, you’ve been waiting for an hour-and-a-half to hear your favourite artist come on stage, you hear one song and then the tip of your finger is chopped off in a freak accident.
That’s exactly what happened to student Summer Gibbs, who went viral over the weekend after she was filmed being escorted by security from a Reading Festival crowd when a mosh pit went wrong.
The 16-year-old, from Basingstoke, was reported to have lost her entire finger on social media site TikTok but the teenager actually just lost the tip of her middle digit and fractured it.
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In an exclusive interview with The Reading Chronicle, Summer explained how she injured her middle finger at rapper Aitch's set.
She said: “There was a mosh pit and as everyone came out, it expanded a gap in the gate.
“The next thing I know my finger was trapped in there.
Summer Gibbs seen escorted by Reading Festival staff after injuring her finger
“I was shouting for people to help because nobody noticed and I passed out over the fence.
“Once I woke up from being passed out there were security people around me and they were all trying to pull out the gate.
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“Then I just panicked and I just kind of ripped it out.”
Summer told the Chronicle she did not remember being escorted from the crowd past the stage, as is shown in the TikTok video above.
Her next memory was being at the festival’s medical tent where she waited “two hours” for medical attention.
She claimed her injury did not hurt initially as she was in shock and her hand was cold and numb.
It was at this point that Summer called her mother to tell her she thought she had indeed lost her finger.
Summer Gibbs seen escorted by Reading Festival staff after injuring her finger
“I was calling my mum and my vision was going so all I was thinking was that my finger’s gone”, she said.
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“I couldn't really see properly so I just assumed that my finger had gone because that’s what it felt like.
“I told my mum my finger had gone and she was obviously panicking and so she had to drive from Basingstoke to Reading but they weren’t letting her in [to the festival site].”
After the shock died down, Summer said the pain “started to kick in” and her finger started bleeding.
Summer Gibbs seen escorted by Reading Festival staff after injuring her finger
Medical professionals were not giving her anything to numb the pain so Summer’s mother called staff supporting the teenager to ask them to give her medication.
Her mother then took her to hospital in Basingstoke where they x-rayed her hand five times before confirming Summer had suffered a fracture.
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Despite videos on TikTok suggesting Summer had lost her entire finger in the accident, the student in fact severely damaged the tip and lost a nail in the process.
Her finger is now bandaged and she will have to return to hospital tomorrow to get a new dressing -- but doctors told her it could be up to four months before it heals properly.
Despite the horror injury, which Summer says is still hurting her, the fun-loving festival-goer said she is hoping to return to Reading Festival next year.
She said: “[After the incident] That was it [for me] because I only had a day ticket.
Members of the public at the Reading Music Festival, England, Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Scott Garfitt).
“I pretty much didn't really do anything because Aitch was the first big [act of the day] and we had waited there for about an hour and a half to get a good spot.
“He played his first song and then it happened.
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“It was the first big thing we’ve done [since coronavirus rules were relaxed]
“It [the incident] would make me more nervous [about returning] but I still want to go to next year's festival.
“After I left, I saw videos on social media that makes me want to go back.
Slowthai performs at the Reading Music Festival, England, Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Scott Garfitt).
“When I was there wasn't really there was really much of an atmosphere because nothing had really happened yet.”
One small silver lining for Summer — who is set to study animal management at Sparesholt College in Winchester in September after completing her GCSEs earlier this year — is the huge growth she has seen in her online following.
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Having gone to Reading Festival with 100 followers on TikTok, the youngster now has 5,600.
Her video documenting her festival ‘experience’ has been viewed 546,000 times.
Summer added: “My mum actually got quite defensive over some of the comments [on TikTok] because people were making finger jokes, she got protective because I think she thought I might take offence to it.
“But I was finding them hilarious!”
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