A 3-year-old boy suffered burn injuries after illegal fireworks shot from the street went through the family’s top-floor apartment building in the Bronx, and struck him. According to an NBC New York news report, the toddler was awakened by what seemed like non-stop illegal fireworks, which has been an issue in the tri-state area before and during the July 4 holiday. Suddenly, one of the fireworks shot from the street came through the apartment window.
Child Suffers Burn Injuries and Lacerations
That terrifying moment, when the fireworks zipped through their apartment window, was captured on video by the child’s teenaged sister. A flash is seen on video followed immediately by screams. The teen initially began to film people on the street below setting off a box of fireworks that kept her from sleeping.
The boy’s father told NBC 4 New York that people were lighting up fireworks in his neighborhood constantly. In this instance, he said he was asleep when he was awakened by what he thought was gunfire and then heard his young son screaming and crying. Photos provided by the child’s father show the toddler with burns to his arms and stitches on his head. Police said the shell blew apart and left lacerations on the child’s arm while also causing first- and second-degree burn injuries.
The father said he struggled to even take his child to seek medical attention because the family’s car was blocked in by a box of fireworks that was tipped over and shooting in the direction of the vehicle. Police say they are searching for individuals described as a group of four to five men who were last seen retrieving fireworks from a gray four-door Ford Fusion sedan with Pennsylvania license plates. The NYPD said they had arrested 12 people in the Bronx, unrelated to this incident, for possessing fireworks.
Fireworks-Related Injuries
According to a report released by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), there were 12 reports of fireworks-related deaths in 2019. Also, fireworks were involved in an estimated 10,000 injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments last year. A majority of these injuries, about 7,300, occurred between June 21 and July 21. Children under 15 years accounted for 36% of the estimated fireworks-related injuries.
Nearly half of the emergency department-treated and fireworks-related injuries were to individuals under 20. Children 0 to 4 years of age had the highest rate of emergency department-treated, fireworks-related injuries. There were an estimated 900 emergency department-treated injuries associated with sparklers and 400 with bottle rockets. The parts of the body most often injured were hands and fingers (30%), legs (23%), eyes (15%), head, face, and ears (15%), and arms (10%). About 58% of the emergency department-treated injuries were burns. Burns were the most common injury to hands, fingers, arms, and legs.
Shooting off fireworks from the street is extremely dangerous and amounts to recklessness. Such incidents have the potential to result in major injuries that may cause permanent disabilities or disfigurement. Burn injuries also often require cosmetic surgical procedures or complex surgeries such as skin graft, which may prove not only painful, but also costly.
A victim who has been injured as the result of someone else’s negligence (carelessness) or wrongdoing may be able to seek compensation for damages such as medical expenses, lost income and benefits, hospitalization, cost of rehabilitation, permanent injuries, disabilities, disfigurement, past and future pain and suffering, etc.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
If you or a loved one has suffered burn injuries or fire-related injuries due to someone else’s negligence (carelessness), the experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you.
Our firm obtained a $985,000 settlement out of a $1 million policy for two people who suffered smoke inhalation injuries because the homeowner did not have smoke detectors installed and the $15,000 that was left on the insurance policy was for a person that we did not represent. One of our clients recovered $2,500,000 due to a faulty space heater. Also, one of our clients obtained a verdict for $43,940,000 and another of our clients got a verdict for $23,500,000, both in medical malpractice cases.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury and medical malpractice cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
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1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
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Source: https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/toddler-hurt-after-fireworks-crash-through-familys-nyc-apartment-window/2482495/