Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Man's hand blown off in illegal fireworks accident in Oakland
OAKLAND, Calif. — A 19-year-old man who planned to join the Marines this fall has lost a hand and a chunk of his leg after illegal fireworks exploded in his pockets.
A young man with plans to report to the Marine Corps in September lost his left hand and a large portion of his thigh after two powerful M-1000 firecrackers exploded in his pocket.
Surrounded by a crowd of people at a neighborhood Fourth of July party on Bartlett Avenue in Oakland, 19-year-old Josh Myers pushed a 2-year-old girl away from him and covered his front left pocket with his hand then fell to the ground after realizing the M-1000s were about to explode.
"At first I didn't think I lost my hand. I thought that I had just took a pretty bad blow," Myers said. "But then I ended up looking and I was like, 'Yeah.' I saw it. My hand was gone."
Myers suspects that the M-1000s had been ignited when flames from other fireworks in his back pocket were accidentally set on fire.
Witnesses told KGO that the unidentified girl received stitches for injuries to her leg caused by the explosion. Myers is recovering at Highland Hospital.
"It took away my dream which was to join to the United States Marine Corps, defend my country. But the thought that just keeps going through my head is better me than that little girl," Myers said.
Myers bought the illegal M-1000s off the street for about $20. Each firecracker is equal to about a quarter stick of dynami
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15448063?nclick_check=1