Firework safety. (KSL file photo)
LEHI – Today is the first day people can buy fireworks for their Fourth of July celebrations, but one Lehi woman says they’re not worth the risk.
It’s been seven years since the accident, but, Kryschelle Houghton remembers it very well. It happened on New Year’s Eve, and the fireworks were being lit at midnight. “I think it was called ‘Lucky Seven.’ It had seven things that shot out and it tipped over.”
Some of the sparks went straight for Houghton’s face, hitting her in the left eye. At first, she was in more shack than pain. Sher can remember pulling her hand away from her face, and seeing that she was bleeding badly. “They took me to Utah Valley Hospital and my eye had ruptured. They told me, right away in the ER, that what I could see now is what I would see forever, which was nothing,” she says.
Several years and several surgeries later, Houghton now has a prosthetic eye. She was hesitant to get it, but, her natural eye kept causing serious headaches. She enjoys taking her family to see the fireworks every Fourth of July, even though she still has flashbacks about the accident. Houghton says, “When I got hit, they had firecrackers going off… a big line of them. So, the big loud, noises bring back memories.” However, the enjoyment she sees in her son’s face makes the fireworks displays less traumatic for her.
She’s hoping to let people know that “freak accidents” like this are more common than many people would think. Also, she believes people should avoid buying them and just go to the programs provided by local cities.