Man Blows Off Arm While Launching Illegal Fireworks

I was just thinking about this the other day, since I saw some fireworks stands popping up in Southern California. The New York man, Eric Smith, was apparently setting off heavy-duty fireworks, mortor rockets, but still, even smaller ones can be dangerous.

Via WyBlog and Sky News, "Man Blows His Arm Off With July 4 Fireworks":

Eric Smith, 36, had been using a three-foot-long metal tube as a launcher to shoot mortars from the street near his Long Island home.

Police believe he leaned over the device while trying to ignite a firework and it rocketed into his shoulder.

Friends and relatives attending a barbecue in Mr Smith's back yard heard a boom and rushed around to the front to find him injured.

Mr Smith's wife, Tania, saw the accident from her kitchen window. "I ran out to see if he was alive," she said.

One witness said the father-of-two "kept groaning: 'Oh, man, I messed up. I really messed up'."

Mr Smith has now been told his severed left limb cannot be reattached, according to the New York Post.

Yep.

The Post article is here: "Fireworks father's arm can't be saved."