Golden Corral Worker Loses Four Fingers In Meat Grinder — Orlando Restaurant Cleans Up Evidence Before Cops Arrive

A worker at a Golden Corral restaurant in Orlando, Florida, had to deal with a lot of trouble at work on Friday after he lost four fingers in a meat grinder at work.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, 19-year-old Joshua Simpkins was working at the Golden Corral on Friday morning around 7:45 a.m. when the accident happened. He was at a meat grinder in the meat room and grinding pork to use for the restaurant that day.

A co-worker of Simpkins was carrying a tray of bacon to the kitchen from the meat room when he heard loud screaming. The co-worker ran toward the screaming and that was when he saw Simpkins’ bloody hand.

The Golden Corral co-worker yelled at someone to call 911 to get emergency services there as quickly as possible.

Upon arriving on the scene, the police officers rushed to Simpkins and immediately noticed the problem.

“I observed the victim…holding his left wrist with his right hand,” an officer wrote. “Simpkins fingers, except the thumb, were all (ground) off.”

That was when the police began to check out the scene at the Golden Corral and find out exactly what had happened and how it all came about. There was a bit of a problem though as the restaurant had cleaned up the area, per the Times Picayune.

Orlando firefighters and other emergency personnel were in the kitchen, but found out that staff had cleaned up the floor. They also rinsed out the meat grinder and thrown that ground pork into the trash.

The remains of Simpkins’ fingers were also thrown into the trash with the ground pork.

Joshua Simpkins was rushed to the Orlando Regional Medical Center where he met with his family and was in stable condition. Orlando Police said that all that remained on Simpkins’ left hand was his thumb.

The accident happened at the Golden Corral location at 5535 S. Kirkman Road in Orlando.

A Golden Corral spokeswoman at the Orlando, Florida, restaurant said that an investigation from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) found proper safety procedures and training in order. They also stated that all equipment was working as it should.

Golden Corral has had no other comment on the incident in which worker Joshua Simpkins lost four fingers in a meat grinder, or on the staff cleaning up everything before police arrived. An OSHA spokesperson also had no comment.

[Image via Golden Corral]