Auburn mom spreading awareness after son severely injured in fireworks accident Sunday

“He keeps repeating how sorry he is that he messed up.”

Heather Prince says she’s relieved her 15-year-old son Zarias is back home from the hospital, after he was severely injured in a firework accident last Sunday while playing with friends at Brannan Park in Auburn.

“He said he lit the firework and then everything went white and then when he came to, his hands were mangled, he was bloody and there was everybody running up to him, grabbing his hands, trying to keep him from bleeding until the ambulance got there,” said Prince.

She says her son didn’t know he was lighting a powerful mortar.

“I’ve kind of got a little PTSD from seeing him in the ambulance and hearing him cry,” said Prince.

After Zarias was rushed to Harborview, he went into surgery.

“Took pretty much this whole section of his hand completely off. It was unrepairable – the nerves were dead, so they had to amputate,” said the mother.

Last year in the U.S., in the weeks before and after the 4th of July, 9,700 people suffered fireworks-related injuries – at least eight people died.

42-percent of ER visits were burn-related, with most victims 15 to 19 years-old.

“Most of the injuries we see are really avoidable. There are people that are trying to push their limits with the fireworks, trying to do things that are inherently dangerous, but they want to try it anyway and then unfortunately, they get badly injured,” said Dr. Stephen Morris with UW Medicine – Seattle.

“That’s the biggest goal for this is to make sure that we spread awareness – that no matter how safe you are, accidents do happen,” said Prince.

The family has a GoFundMe account to help with medical bills.