We still haven’t learned. As one Los Angeles Dodgers fan unfortunately discovered firsthand, playing with explosives such as fireworks is never worth the high risk of injury.
Following the Dodgers’ impressive World Series win over the New York Yankees on Wednesday, a 25-year-old fan blew up his hands when his ill-advised choice of celebration went awry.
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Fellow revelers captured a graphic video of the incident, displaying the dark side of fooling around with objects that are literally constructed to combust.
I happened to catch the video while scrolling X and was subjected to watching, so do yourself a favor and take my word for it when I say it’s nauseating. There’s just a lot of blood – duh – and a freshly mutilated man. Like, multiple fingers were definitely blown off at least one of, and potentially both, hands. The video wasn’t exactly a masterclass in filming, making it difficult to see the full scope of the injuries behind the sea of red flowing from the Dodgers fan.
TMZ Sports reports that first responders arrived around 2:30 a.m., addressing the man’s extensive injuries. They placed tourniquets on both arms before transporting him to a local hospital. His injuries, however, reportedly aren’t life-threatening.
Anytime you see “fireworks” in a headline, it’s typically not a good thing. In the sports world, anytime something like this pops up, it’s hard not to think back to when a one-time star NFL player, Jason Pierre-Paul, experienced the same unfortunate fate after fireworks exploded in his hand. He eventually played again but lost three fingers in the aftermath.
Firework injuries aren’t an uncommon occurrence, even outside the sports world. There were approximately 9,700 injuries related to the explosives in 2023, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and up to eight deaths a year. On average, that number has been close to 10,000 per year over the last decade.