Lea Tissen was holding on to the hand of her father, Wladimir Tissen, 31 and standing a step ahead of him on the escalator when her left foot got stuck beneath the very last step of the moving stairs.

Hearing her scream, her father immediately rushed to her aid and tried to free her foot from her pink ankle-strapped sandal but the damage was done.

Two of her toe nails were ripped out. Mall officials bandaged up her foot and sent her to KKH Women and Children's Hospital where her large toe was stitched up.

'It was lucky that I could open her shoe and release her foot. Parents are often not aware of how dangerous escalators can be,' said Mr Tissen, a sales manager.

Officials from the mall also visited the Tissen family, who are from Germany at their home in Woodlands on Monday and presented them with a fruit basket and a teddy bear.