A 27-year-old Florida man partially severed his hand — and will likely need to have it amputated — after he lit a firework inside a truck, according to reports.
A 911 caller reported that a firework exploded in a man’s hand on Saturday, investigators told The Deltona Beach News-Journal.
“Yes, barely, barely, barely,” the caller told a dispatcher when asked if the hand was still attached after the loud explosion.
The caller then yelled about the man, identified as Corey Waugh, 27, of Deltona: “The hand is gone, the (expletive) hand is gone … we have a tourniquet on.”
At the scene, deputies found the driver of the truck, Kyle Lafleur, 27, of Longwood, holding Waugh’s left arm, according to a police report obtained by the News-Journal.
A deputy used a tourniquet to help slow the bleeding and rushed Waugh to Central Florida Regional Hospital in Sanford, according to the report.
A disoriented Lefleur, who said he could not hear out of his left ear, told police he was driving with Waugh as his passenger. He only remembers lighting a cigarette when he heard an explosion, the paper reported.
The police report indicated that deputies discovered a rocket-propelled aerial cluster burst firework in the vehicle.
Waugh had apparently taken the rocket motor off the firework and then lit the fuse on the aerial cluster burst while holding it in his left hand, the paper reported.
“The fusing system on the starburst projectile is a no-delay fuse system which caused the projectile to explode immediately in the victim’s hand once introduced to the flame of the lighter, causing significant injury to the victim’s left hand,” deputies wrote in the report, obtained by the outlet.
The lighter torch was blown apart, the windows and windshield of the car destroyed — and its interior covered in blood.
Foul play did not appear to be a factor in the incident.
Waugh is listed in stable condition, and hospital staff said it is likely is hand will be amputated, according to WFTV.