Fans of the NY Giants were surprised to hear this past weekend defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul suffered injuries from playing with fireworks. Reports are now coming in stating that the injuries were not as severe as originally thought. But it remains to see how this will impact his ability to play this season or his career. I hope and pray for his speedy recovery.
But what does this injury say to ordinary people like you and me? The answer is simple. It doesn’t make a difference if you are a professional athlete or if you are a guy sitting at a desk typing away at a keyboard all day, playing with fireworks has its risks and they can be deadly or life changing.
For example:
In the State of Maine a man who was drinking set off a firework on his head which killed him.
In Boston two children (ages 5 and 9) suffered injuries from fireworks. One child received severe burns the other suffered hand injury and may face possible amputation.
In the three examples I just cited 2 of them are in states were fireworks are legal. One even happened when Paramedics were nearby monitoring the event.
Even professionals who run fireworks displays have a mishap from time to time. Take for instance the accident this past weekend in Avon, Colorado. According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission 2013 Annual Report the percentage of the total injuries from professionally run fireworks displays is a meager 4%
The bottom line is this; fireworks are imbedded in the American psyche and even with laws that make them illegal, like in New Jersey, people still use them. Extreme caution should be taken on how they are used and if at best left to the professionals.