SPRINGDALE, Ark. — An Arkansas teen is warning Fourth of July revelers to use caution with fireworks after one went off in his hand.
LESSON LEARNED: Earlier this month, Landon Freeman, 18, and his friends were playing in a firework war. He was holding a mortar tube and mistakenly placed the firework in backward and it exploded in his hand. pic.twitter.com/BOvb3ljZEt
— CBS 42 (@CBS_42) July 3, 2019
According to KNWA-TV, Landon Freeman, 18, of Springdale, was playing with fireworks last month when he accidentally put one backward into a mortar tube.
That's when it exploded.
"It was just a bright flash of light, and as soon as it went off I knew that I blew up my hand," Freeman told KNWA.
Freeman, who was bleeding and unable to feel two of his fingers, was transported by helicopter to a Little Rock hospital, where he had two surgeries during his five-day stay.
Doctors plan to perform another surgery on Freeman, whose wrist is still shattered, the news outlet reported.
"Hopefully people can learn from my mistakes," he told KNWA.
Thousands of people are injured in fireworks-related accidents every year, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Cox Media Group
