Boy, 3, rushed to hospital after barber allegedly cuts off piece of his ear during haircut

A shocked parent claims her 3-year-old boy had part of his ear cut off during a trip to an Auckland barbershop, requiring surgery at Starship children’s hospital.

The boy’s mother has described it as one of the “most horrific experiences” and claims WorkSafe is now involved, though the agency says it is yet to be notified.

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The barbershop owner confirmed an incident had occurred, telling the Herald he was now considering selling the business due to the potential effects.

However, he questioned the severity of the boy’s injury.

“I think he sliced the top of it [his ear] a little bit, but I don’t think it was that deep. It didn’t come completely off.”

In a post to Facebook yesterday, the boy’s mother, who the Herald has decided not to name, said the incident occurred while visiting an Auckland barbershop yesterday.

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The boy’s father had taken him to “try a new barber”, which advertised kids’ cuts and had toys for children to play with while waiting.

The father asked the barber if he was comfortable cutting his son’s hair, to which the barber said yes.

“Less than a minute later, the barber had completely cut the entire top of our son’s ear off,” the mother wrote.

“Blood everywhere and our son screaming to the point where he was almost losing consciousness,” the post read.

The mother claimed the barber went into defence mode, blaming the 3-year-old for moving around too much, “even though he has had regular haircuts for the past two years and we have never been told this by a barber before”.

The child was taken to Starship, where the mother claims surgeons were desperate to find the missing part of his ear so they could reattach it. The mother said she called the barbershop an hour after the incident, but an employee said: “Nah mate, no ear tip here.”

“I understand that accidents happen but this experience to us seems like total neglect and carelessness,” she wrote.

The family allegedly spent the rest of the day at Starship, where surgeons told them the boy was incredibly lucky he didn’t require major surgery. The mother wrote that her son’s ear may never heal back to the way it was.

A photo of the child posted after the incident appears to show him playing with toys on a hospital bed with a bandaged ear.

“Parents, please make sure you take your kids to reputable local hairdressers/barbers who are confident in what they are doing, you honestly cannot risk it with our little tamariki.”

The mother did not wish to speak to the Herald when approached, but said the owner had been in contact with her and had “taken the appropriate approach with this employee”.

“We have also been contacted by both WorkSafe and ACC who are dealing with it too.”

The barbershop owner says he is considering selling his business after yesterday's incident. Photo / 123rf

The barbershop owner, who wished to remain anonymous, said he was contemplating giving away or selling the business after the incident.

“We’ll see how it goes with the community, but obviously it’s going to affect our business.”

When asked about the incident, the owner said the barber had advised the boy’s father he didn’t feel comfortable cutting his hair because he was “moving a lot”, but the father told him “it should be fine”.

While the top of the boy’s ear had been sliced “a little bit”, the owner understood the wound was not that deep.

“It didn’t come completely off.”

The owner said there was a small amount of blood and the boy’s father proceeded to take him to hospital.

He told the Herald the employee involved, who has almost 15 years’ experience in the trade, would take a couple of weeks off following the incident.

“He’s not feeling okay after what happened to be honest ... he was really upset, sad and sorry about what happened obviously.”

He added that the business had not been in contact with the family today because they could not get hold of them.

Despite the woman’s comments about WorkSafe, a spokesman for the agency said WorkSafe had not yet been notified about the incident “at this stage”.

Benjamin Plummer is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He has worked for the Herald since 2022.