Taipei, Taiwan
CNN
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Silwanus Tangkotta was working aboard a Taiwanese fishing boat in the remote Pacific last year, when a heavy wave slammed a rolling metal door onto his hand, crushing his middle and ring fingers.
The Indonesian migrant fisherman needed medical attention, but the captain refused to return to port, saying they hadn’t caught enough fish to justify the trip. For over a month, Tangkotta endured the searing pain, forced to wrap the wound in tape and pick at exposed bone with a toothpick to prevent infection.
“I did whatever I could… I took nail clippers and toothpicks to destroy the protruding bones,” he told CNN. “I thought if I didn’t pull…
