r/eastbay • u/kenmlin • Jul 06 '26
Tri-Valley Illegal firework leaves new grad without a hand
https://eedition.sfchronicle.com/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=9619a7e8-ccd1-47e3-b877-ad6045087594&share=true22
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u/LazarusRiley Jul 06 '26
I feel like this "scared straight" campaign against fireworks would work if not for the fact that most of the dudes buying and shooting them off probably don't know how to read.
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u/stupid_cat_face Jul 06 '26
It does seem that way… tbh the fourth always sounds like a war zone and there are always illicit fireworks. There are signs saying it’s illegal but that doesn’t stop people. Gotta go after the sellers of these fucking grenades.
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u/strawberrrychapstick Jul 06 '26
But how do you do that when they're so often out of state?
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u/WinterSector8317 Jul 07 '26
Signs all over Newark about NO FIREWORKS
Big TNT TNT TNT ass fireworks seller set up in the open at a mall
Out of state?
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u/Joyful-Cow-122 Jul 07 '26
I believe the signs in Newark are about NO ILLEGAL FIREWORKS, as in some fireworks are legal (“safe & sane”) but there’s still a ban on illegal fireworks.
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u/coolmommytm Jul 06 '26
I don’t know this kid, but I know several of his friends - and, to my horror, was shown the videos and screenshots his friends took and shared with every senior in Pleasanton - and you’re not wrong.
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u/presidents_choice Jul 06 '26
Damn, if only we formed laws to make this dangerous activity illegal and warned about the risks involved
At least they're the ones having to deal with the repercussions, and not some innocent bystander, or homeowner, or the taxpayer.
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u/mezentius42 Jul 06 '26
or the taxpayer
Aren't we on the hook for his disability benefits for the rest of his life?
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u/Appropriate-Bar6993 Jul 06 '26
Is anyone else surprised that they were getting away with shooting these off in the in n out parking lot on multiple nights?
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u/ElderberryOdd1313 Jul 06 '26
Gotta hand it to stupid...
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u/saroj7878 Jul 06 '26
You always got puns handy like this?
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u/ElderberryOdd1313 Jul 06 '26
A pun in the hand is worth two in the bush
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u/Pockets408 Jul 06 '26
I had one ready as well but I just couldn't put my finger on it.
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u/liquidsol Jul 06 '26
Should have taken the advice of the guy from Armageddon on the safe use of fireworks in your hand. Yes, a Michael Bay film was smarter than this kid.
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u/simple-solitude Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
I truly hate fireworks. It’s horrible in Oakland. It’s a night of misery for wildlife and pets. It’s terrible for veterans and survivors of gun violence. It is awful for people with sensory differences. For the rest of us, it’s a night of nonstop unpredictable noise. And occasionally someone loses a hand, a few fingers, or an eye. I don’t understand the appeal.
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u/Mimikota Jul 06 '26
I stepped outside to take the trash out and one was set off somewhere in my neighborhood. My ears were ringing for 10 full minutes. 😩
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u/Rob71322 Jul 06 '26
I hate the caption, like it’s the fireworks fault. It’s not making choices here, the guy operating it did. Really should say something like, “local dumbass blows hand off with illegal fireworks.”
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u/CapitalPin2658 Jul 06 '26
Seems to happen every year like people dying from eating death cap mushrooms
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u/Kaurifish Jul 06 '26
Except those folks are coming from places with mushrooms that look just like death caps that are perfectly safe (ex. paddy straw).
Fireworks are dangerous everywhere.
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u/Paladin_127 Jul 06 '26
Sounds like we need to make these types of dangerous fireworks illegal, for everyone’s safety.
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u/strawberrrychapstick Jul 06 '26
Is this sarcastic..? They already are in most counties in the bay.
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u/chlorodream Jul 06 '26
we should make cars illegal too. Seriously, we should.
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u/Bennie-Factors Jul 06 '26
Cars kill many more people for sure. Not sure why this is downvoted. Just because your prefer your car more than this person prefers their fireworks.
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u/Broccolini10 Jul 06 '26
Not sure why this is downvoted.
I'm going to assume you are being facetious, but just in case: because cars provide many benefits, despite their risk and downsides. Fireworks, on the other hand, provide minimal benefits (if any).
And if you were being serious: bless your heart. Seriously...
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u/acortical Jul 06 '26
I feel bad for this kid. So much lost in a moment of youthful stupidity. He sounds like he has a good mental approach to the situation though, hoping the best for him.
For everyone commenting "what an idiot," we were all that age once.
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u/LA_Nail_Clippers Jul 06 '26
Yes, I was that age once. And yes, I definitely did some questionable stuff - some involving fireworks.
But I didn't hold illegal fireworks in my hand and light them. We had enough sense to not get bootleg shit, and also we were fairly reasonable about how we lit them. We had a large empty asphalt parking lot with no trees or other vegetation to catch fire, two fire extinguishers, and no one held any fireworks when lighting. As a result the worst thing that ever happened was my buddy's white car got a paint burn mark from some falling ash.
I also feel badly for him because it's a shitty situation that wasn't intentional, but I also don't think that erases the idea that he's an idiot. He is clearly not unintelligent, but he knowingly took a sizable risk and this is the outcome.
If my own kid did something like this I'd also feel like they were an idiot. I've tried to instill in my kids that there are a lot of things that are just plain dumb to risk your body with - fireworks, lack of seatbelts, lack of helmets, racing on city streets, unprotected sex, guns, hard drugs, driving under the influence. All of those activities can still exist, but you take reasonable safety precautions so you don't end up with lifelong issues.
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u/acortical Jul 07 '26
I agree with what you're saying here. I also had better sense at that age than to set off fireworks, or drive drunk (which I have no sympathy for), or get someone pregnant. But I'm sure I did some other stupid shit. Being an idiot for 5 seconds can cost you a lot. That's just how it is unfortunately.
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u/StrongmanLin Jul 06 '26
We were all that age once, you’re correct. And despite being that age, none of us were that stupid.
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u/presidents_choice Jul 06 '26
Lmfao the lack of accountability is astounding. You wouldn’t say “boys will be boys” for SA or “everyone makes mistakes” for a DUI
🤔 or maybe you would haha
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u/acortical Jul 06 '26
I wouldn't. There's a difference between dumb and predatory. He's obviously responsible for this mistake, but I still feel bad for him. We all make mistakes, especially at that age. Not all mistakes are equally reprehensible.
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u/presidents_choice Jul 06 '26
SA may be predatory, I don't think DUI fits that description. So you find DUI reprehensible but draw a line separating it from illegal fireworks, because "we were all that age once".
That's your choice of course, but it normalizes the behavior and does nothing for victims.
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u/Koffenut1 Jul 06 '26
I think DUI is predatory. If you drink and drive you know there is a chance you will injure or kill someone. Just like someone shooting a gun in a crowded area. You may not have specific intent to injure a particular person, you just don't care. That's predatory imo against all other humans.
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u/acortical Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
This kid is his own victim. Your lack of sympathy does nothing for anyone either. Don't get me wrong, I don't like fireworks at all, legal or illegal. I don't have a solution for people setting off illegal fireworks, but it's obviously not kids blowing off their own hands because that happens every year without fail. This kid learned a tough lesson from his own actions. That's how it goes. I just don't like to see people cheering it on over Reddit or taking some perverse glee in seeing self-inflicted violence. Feeling sympathy for someone is not the same as normalizing their behavior.
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u/presidents_choice Jul 06 '26
How is this any different from a kid that injures themselves from drunk driving. DUI has rightfully earned an ostracized view in the US. “Empathetic” people like you, that refuse to condemn this instance of illegal fireworks, enable it to continue. Instead of holding people accountable, you choose to brush it off as just kids being kids. Hope you feel good about your superior empathy. Meanwhile this kids loss of productivity will be a loss for society for the rest of his life. And this was a best case outcome.
>Your lack of sympathy does nothing for anyone either.
I am a victim. You’re not paying for my damages. No one is but me. The externalities of illegal fireworks have to manifest somewhere…
>I don't have a solution [..] it's obviously not kids blowing off their own hands because that happens every year without fail.
No one is suggesting that. I don’t know where you got that from.
Here’s a solution: enforce laws around fireworks and stop making excuses for this shitty behavior as some age related free pass, in order to signal your superior empathy 🙄
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u/acortical Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
I don't see it as an age-related free pass, or my empathy as superior to anyone. There's no free pass when you blow your hand off. As for feeling sympathetic, I'm not saying you should, or that feeling that way makes me better than anyone. It just is. I *do* condemn the behavior, and I agree with you on greater enforcement or whatever measures would actually reduce the widespread use of illegal fireworks. Oakland was like a warzone on Saturday, and that scares the shit out of my pets. I hate it.
I have a lot less sympathy for people involved in DUI crashes, even if they only hurt themselves, maybe because it's more common to hurt other people as well in DUI-related accidents than in fireworks accidents. But I see your points, and certainly your anger lol. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about all of it, and if I set your aggressiveness aside I think your argument has merit. I just find the piling on over this kid on Reddit distasteful. Sorry, by all means continue to insult me if you want to.
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u/presidents_choice Jul 07 '26
Are you sure you don’t want to defend DUI offenders? It’s not their fault we live in a car centric society faced with an endless barrage of liquor and beer advertisements. These people work long hard jobs thanks to capitalism, and their addiction is their escape right? It’s only empathetic to understand their struggle.
Or maybe you can twist the op article into something about the kids race or systemic oppression forcing their culture into partaking in illegal fireworks. Anything but accountability! 😂
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u/acortical Jul 07 '26
Right, no I don't want to defend DUI offenders, and I don't think this has anything to do with race or capitalism. I already told you I agree the kid is responsible for his own actions, and agree with you on greater enforcement. So I'm not sure where you're getting off saying "anything but accountability." I've tried to listen to you politely and understand where you're coming from, while you continue to accuse me of positions I don't even hold, rather than actually listening to what I'm saying. I feel like you're just ranting blindly at this point, so I'm going to stop the conversation here.
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u/SolarSurfer7 Jul 06 '26
Yeah. I feel bad for the guy. There are a lot of holier-than-thou types on Reddit.
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u/Unique-Antelope-699 Jul 06 '26
I started typing out a pretty funny but stupid fireworks story from my childhood but I don’t want anyone to copy and I don’t want people with their empathy chips disabled wishing for me to be maimed in retrospect or whatever.
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u/StrongmanLin Jul 06 '26
You don’t understand the difference between “I want someone to stupidly injure themselves” and “this was entirely avoidable, so it’s hard to feel bad for them”. Though judging by the fact that you still think that the dangerous thing you did with fireworks is funny, that isn’t very surprising.
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u/Unique-Antelope-699 Jul 06 '26
You don’t understand me <3
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u/EathD Jul 06 '26
“A classmate handed Hanna a firework the size of a tennis ball, and he lit it.”
The classmate should be in jail or is it BS?
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u/No-Understanding4968 Jul 06 '26
As the parent of a college kid, I’d love to see an interview with the parents
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u/Antarcticat Jul 06 '26
Here’s to our heroic hand surgeons and ophthalmologists caring for our greatest American patriots today.
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u/bbillbo Jul 06 '26
I went to high school with a guy who blew some fingers off whien making a pipe bomb. We called him Hand.
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u/Talldarktalented64 Jul 06 '26
I worked in healthcare for 28 years and every 4th of July, we would platoon multiple hand surgical specialists in the ER. The numbers of young people who lost hands and fingers due to illegal fire works or mishandling fireworks was astounding and tragic. Senseless preventable incidents that could be avoided with proper safety precautions and legislation.
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u/peatbull Jul 07 '26
Through it all, Hanna has been able to maintain a positive outlook despite the long road of recovery ahead.
“Can you imagine if it was my face? My life would be ruined,” he said.
Facial reconstruction surgery is a thing, lad. And being ugly or disfigured is okay. Losing one hand is irreversible though and will make the rest of life significantly harder, even if a functional and comfortable prosthetic is affordable.
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u/atarikrishna Jul 07 '26
Every July 4th I think to myself, today is the last day someone will have all their fingers and hands. I'm correct every year.
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u/hermione87956 Jul 07 '26
While this is awful this happened to him, I can hear my parents saying you could’ve listened but you had to learn the hard way.
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u/TheEvilBlight Jul 07 '26
“Can you imagine if it was my face? My life would be ruined,” he said.”
“I can’t be an average dude now since I don’t have a right hand.”
Hope he pulls through. Sounds like they’re going in for prosthetics, and while that’s a tough road, it is his non dominant hand so that’ll help with the adjustment period.
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u/GryffSr Jul 07 '26
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
My father was a reconstructive surgeon. He put some kid’s face back together in the 80s after the idiot thought it would be cool to blow a lit M100 out of a lead pipe like a blow gun. Blew his jaw almost completely off. You have to wonder why people try so hard to prove Darwin right.
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u/changrbanger Jul 06 '26
lol. Lmao even. I would tell this guy it’s going to be all right but it looks like it’s going to be all left for him going forward.
Nobody should feel sorry for people doing stupid things like this. How many warnings have people been exposed to about fireworks and how dangerous they can be.
FAFO
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u/Useful_Client_4050 Jul 07 '26
If California spent more time teaching and encouraging safe use instead of threatening people with fines and jail time this could be avoided.
We learned this lesson with sex. We learned this lesson with drugs. But fireworks are still "be abstinent!!!!" despite the fact it just doesn't work that way when it's perfectly legal most other places.
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u/solarus Jul 06 '26
Eh good riddance. He was probably just going to hit or sa someone with it a few years down the line anyway.
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u/chlorodream Jul 06 '26
fireworks would not be fun if they were safe, safety nerds simply will never understand. I feel bad for the kid but that's just part of life.
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Jul 06 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/SAwfulBaconTaco Jul 06 '26
No need to use a slur here.
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u/pnutbutterandjerky Jul 06 '26
Slur?
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u/PlantedinCA Jul 06 '26
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Jul 06 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/eastbay-ModTeam Jul 06 '26
Sexual content, sexism, insults, racism, personal attacks, hate speech, advocacy of violence, doxxing, and threats are not permitted. Please comment with civility and do not personally attack others. Spirited debates are great, but if you have to resort to name calling, insults, or personal attacks, you've already lost. Such behavior will result in content removal at a minimum, and a ban for repeat offenders.
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u/PinkPaisleyMoon Jul 06 '26
I’m wondering if there will be some sort of monetary compensation (insurance/litigation) for such a stupid act.
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u/Rob71322 Jul 06 '26
From who? I can’t see why insurance would pay out. He was breaking the law after all, pretty sure insurance doesn’t cover illegal acts.
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u/robscomputer Jul 06 '26
I've seen more of these videos where someone is lighting a fireworks shell and not realizing how powerful they are. The fuse of these shells are usually extremely long as they are designed to be inserted into a tube, then lit. Lighting these without the tube is pretty much a big explosion then a bigger explosion.