A 12-year-old boy in South LA lost his hand after an accident with an illegal firework which injured his arm and caused burns. Karma Dickerson reports for the NBC4 News on July 12, 2023.
The fourth of July has passed but as leftover fireworks linger, so does firework danger.
But the remnants of the Fourth of July will never leave Anthony Gibson.
“I didn’t realize, I just wanted to light it so bad.” Gibson said.
Now, the 12-year-old boy has a warning for the community after losing a hand to an illegal firework.
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“It was like something out of a movie, a war wound,” Yadira Gonzalez, his grandmother, said.
Gibson says a local business gave him a leftover firework. It was a rocket, illegal even for adults in California. He set it off about a block from his house.
“He’s changed his life forever at the age of 12,” Ashley Chamberlain, his mother, said.
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“I didn’t think it was going to happen, I thought it was going to go up in the air,” Gibson said.
Anthony said he went out and tried to relight it when it blew up.
Taking four fingers from his left hand, burning his face, torso, and right hand. His mother and grandmother say they warned him about fireworks all through the holiday weekend.
With his grandmother even showing him this video on the news of a man injuring his hand on the Fourth of July
“I called them to come in, hey you guys look at this, it can happen to an adult it can happen to anybody,” Gonzalez said. “Now we’re living it.”
Anthony has another surgery Friday, and a long expensive recovery ahead, eventually leading to a prosthetic hand. His family is grateful for any assistance getting him back to his happy places on the baseball field and basketball court.
