Boy Suffers Injuries To Hand After Fireworks Accident
Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter
LAUDERHILL (CBSMiami) – An eight-year-old boy is recovering after a fireworks accident resulted in a partial amputation of his fingers.
"He lost all this right here, his thumb and he lost half of his index finger," said Brittnee Britt, the boy's sister.
Britt didn't see the firecracker blow up next to her little brother's hand, but she heard it.
Watch Maggie Newland's report, click here.
"I was in the house and I heard a loud explosion and I came outside," Britt explained. "My momma was crying and my brother was crying and he was bleeding."
It happened Friday night while neighbors said a group of kids was playing outside a Lauderhill home.
A day later, packaging from sparklers still sits on the ground, but firefighters said it wasn't a sparkler that injured the eight-year-old.
"Apparently he was playing with a high-grade mortar fireworks, same fireworks they use at parks and sporting events," said Captain Jerry Gonzalez with Lauderhill Fire Rescue. "Highly illegal and unfortunately something we see too much."
"He had put it on the ground and lit it up, but it wasn't doing nothing. As soon as he went back down he tried to light it up again, it blew up in his hand," Britt said.
The boy was rushed to the hospital where he'll likely remain for a few days. His sister said he needed surgery.
"They have to stitch his hand back up here and they've got to stitch all his cuts closed," Britt said of his injuries.
After what happened to her brother, Brittnee promises she won't be playing with fireworks anytime soon.
"I'm nervous," she said. "It's good that it's only a couple fingers. It could have been his face."
"These are the type of fireworks we've got to leave to the professionals," said Captain Gonzalez. "They're nice and beautiful, but they're nice and beautiful at a sporting event at a park on Fourth of July they have to be left to the professionals. This is not something you play with at home."
No charges have been filed. It's not clear where the boy got fireworks. His sister said they may have come from an adult in the neighborhood.
RELATED CONTENT:
