Looking at the finger in question three months after the fact, you might wonder what all the fuss was about.
But naturally enough, it was no laughing matter for Portsmouth and Republic of Ireland attacker Ronan Curtis.
Or indeed his brother who, having been woken by the screams, rushed downstairs to find blood everywhere and his sibling trying to self-reattach the digit.
“He saw the blood all over the floor, so he probably thought something mad had happened, but it was just a bloody finger,” smiled Curtis yesterday.
Actually, it was a little more serious than that as Curtis - the former Derry City star - nearly had to have it amputated after catching it in a door.
The injury kept him out for six weeks and ruled him out of the March wins over Gibraltar and Georgia, at a time when Mick McCarthy was singing his praises.
“It's getting there now and it's not too bad,” said Curtis. “They’ve done an amazing job on it, the surgeons and plastic surgery people.
“It's just a little scar now. I broke the bone in the finger and that was six weeks. It's three and a half months now, and I can't feel it.
“If I put my hand out, I can hold people off so it's not too bad. The first couple of games I came back in were a bit iffy.”
The incident happened in March and recalling that morning, Curtis said: “I went to close the door and it didn’t slam.
“So when I went to close it again I looked back and the wind just blew the door. Luckily I managed to get the rest of my fingers out.
“But it wasn’t sore when I did it. I didn’t think it was bad … it was bad in a sense that it was hanging off! But I didn’t feel the pain straight away.
“I felt the pain when I ran back upstairs and put my hand underneath the cold water. That’s when the nerves and the shock hit me."
Curtis continued: “It was just a little tiny piece of skin that was holding it on. Before I went to hospital, I had to peel it back over and hold it myself.
“They managed to save it. They said the nerves were still lovely and pink. If they were black, then it would have had to come off. God was looking after me.”
Curtis’ quick thinking saved the day.
He continued: “I had a cloth with ice in it and put my finger in between the ice and cloth and held it there for 20 minutes until I got to hospital.
“Luckily my brother was in the house at the time and drove me, but he was worse than me!.”
Curtis was soon back in the swing of things and is pushing for inclusion against Denmark and Gibraltar.
But he still can’t deal with a door without a shiver running up his spine.
“I get wary now around other people closing doors. I know how sore it was on me. I give them a little reminder.
“My daughter is a nightmare - she’s nearly four - and is always running around, closing doors and stuff.
“I always tell her Mum to watch her as you know what kids are like. If a kid got an injury like that, it would be worse.”
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