47-year-old Sergeant of Marine (MAR) George recalled a painful memory when he was on an anti-smuggling operation in July 2020. George, who was a police constable back then, together with his colleagues spotted a smuggling speedboat in the waters of Ninepin Group that night. They immediately set off to intercept it. During the chase, the smugglers’ vessel suddenly dashed at the MAR Multi-Mission Interceptor. George, whose right hand was grabbing the side of Interceptor, had his index finger crushed. He was seriously injured and required immediate hospitalisation.

George waited for the operation in agony. “I didn’t even dare to look at my right index finger. It was too horrible to look at.” After assessing the injury, the surgeon said that the chance for the severed finger to regain function was very low although it could be reattached. George accepted the amputation. After four months of recuperation, he reported duty at the Force again. Without the index finger to trigger it, he was not allowed to carry a gun. Instead, he was assigned to administrative work and got promoted to sergeant in 2021. Yet George had always wanted to return to the front line. He asked for a shooting assessment. If he passed, he could be armed with a gun while on duty.

At first, George tried to pull the trigger with his right middle finger. As he was a right-handed shooter, the assessment result was satisfactory. However, the Weapons Training Division (WTD) assessed that the risk of pulling the trigger inadvertently might increase if he did shooting with his right middle finger. After prudent consideration, WTD decided that he could not pass the assessment. But George did not give in. He tried holding the gun with his left hand. In order to increase the power of gripping in his left hand, he carried out a lot of training, including doing pull-ups with his left hand. Lacking actual combat practice in left-hand shooting, unfortunately, he failed to meet the standard during the assessment.

To tackle the problem, George proposed to his superiors again that he would like to receive two weeks of intensive shooting training provided by WTD to familiarise shooting with his left hand. With determination and perseverance, George took the third assessment and passed it eventually. He was allowed to carry a gun and work on the front line again. “After this predicament, I understand that while accidents are unpredictable, solutions always outnumber difficulties. As long as we bear the Force’s sense of mission in mind, we can overcome difficulties regardless of their gravity,” added George.