A three-year-old boy has died, marking the fourth victim of a tragic fireworks explosion in Honolulu on New Year’s Eve
Honolulu: It’s such a heartbreaking situation. A three-year-old boy has sadly become the fourth victim of a massive fireworks explosion that happened on New Year’s Eve. Before him, three women lost their lives, and now over 20 people are dealing with serious injuries, many of them with severe burns.
Because Hawaii’s only burn center is pretty small, six of the injured were flown to Phoenix, Arizona for urgent care. Dr. Kevin Foster from the Arizona Burn Center shared that these patients, mostly in their 20s and 30s, have burns covering a huge part of their bodies, from 45% to nearly 80%. They’re in tough shape, many are in medically induced comas and on breathing tubes.
Dr. Foster mentioned that while their vital signs are stable, it’s going to be a long recovery journey for them, possibly taking up to a year to get back to any kind of normal life. It’s just so tough to hear.
In light of this tragedy, officials in Hawaii are calling for stricter laws against illegal fireworks. They want tougher enforcement and harsher penalties to prevent something like this from happening again.
Dr. Foster also pointed out that these patients might face post-traumatic stress disorder. The burn center has a team of mental health professionals ready to help, which is so important. He noted that burn injuries can really mess with someone’s head, and it’s a unique kind of horror to deal with.
Many of the patients had emergency surgeries before being moved from Hawaii, and some suffered from injuries caused by the explosions. The Arizona Burn Center has already done several surgeries and plans more to help with healing and skin grafts. But there’s a big worry about infections, which are common for burn patients.
Dr. Foster explained that with such extensive burns, infections are almost a given. The scars and physical limitations from these injuries will likely stick with them for life, which is just so sad.
Hawaii has a rich tradition of celebrating New Year’s with fireworks, but in recent years, professional-grade fireworks have become a big hit, even though they’re illegal for regular folks. On Oahu, neighborhoods light up for hours as people set off fireworks from their streets.
Authorities say the explosion happened when someone at a party lit a bundle of aerial fireworks, which tipped over and shot explosives into crates of more fireworks. The footage of the explosion shows a wild series of blasts lighting up the sky.
Different counties in Hawaii have various rules about fireworks. On Oahu, only certain types of firecrackers are allowed during specific times like New Year’s Eve and the Fourth of July. But still, many folks set off all kinds of fireworks throughout the year.
