A 10-year-old Laguna Hills boy is recovering in a hospital from severe injuries suffered when a firework exploded in his hand in San Juan Capistrano last week.
Edther Ocampo and his 11-year-old brother, Dominic, were walking in a residential area along train tracks near Camino Capistrano to their grandmother’s home about 7:30 p.m., July 5, after a soccer practice at nearby Stone Field when along the route they found what they thought was an unused firework in an alleyway next to a line of garages, Ocampo’s mother, Cynthia Garcia said Thursday, July 11.
They took the device to their grandmother’s home and found a lighter. Edther Ocampo was holding the device in his left hand when they lit the firework and it suddenly exploded, Garcia said.
The mother was on her way to pick up the boys when her sister called and told her something had happened and she needed to get there immediately, she said.
“When I got there, my son was being brought from the area where it happened to the ambulance,” Garcia said. “He was bandaged up from his eyes. That’s all I saw.”
The explosion blew off three fingers and part of a fourth on his left hand, and caused an abdominal burn, multiple internal injuries to his organs, burst eardrums, burns to his hair and eyebrows and a cut on the left side of his face, Garcia said. Dominic, who was standing next to Edther when the explosion occurred, suffered two big lacerations on his side, scrapes and a large gash on his elbow that required stitches.
“Doctors say they’re trying to fix everything, but he’s got a long run,” Garcia said of her 10-year-old. “This is just the beginning of the race. Once we get through this he has to get through how that change of life is going to affect him.”
Doctors also told the family Edther would need to stay in the hospital for about two months. Edther, who is left-handed, was scheduled to have surgery on his left hand next week.
As for Dominic, Garcia said he’s been trying to stay strong when he sees his younger brother.
The boy were as close as twins, the mother said, “growing up together, they’re always together, so having to see him in this situation, (he’s distraught). It breaks his heart.”
The explosion was so large it prompted a response from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s Bomb Squad. The department did investigate to see if any criminal activity was involved, but determined it was an accident, Sgt. Frank Gonzalez said Thursday.
Garcia believes someone had to have seen something that day and was asking anyone with information to come forward so the family can connect the dots and warn others so “no other tragedies happen.”
She said people should be more responsible with fireworks.
“Stuff like that, it’s not worth it,” Garcia said. “We think we’re being responsible enough, but we don’t know how those things work. Once we light it, it’s out of our hands and we don’t know what’s going to happen.
“If it doesn’t happen to us, it can happen to someone else,” she said.
Garcia has been at her son’s bedside at the hospital since he was admitted. The family is hopeful they can find a doctor that specializes in hand reconstruction surgery who might be able to help make a prosthetic for Edther.
“We do hope eventually to find someone to give him a better quality of life in a way, so we can get him back to sports because that’s the one thing he wants to go back to, being able to play soccer,” Garcia said.
Amanda Zarate, who organized a GoFundMe to help with Edther’s recovery, shared a photo on Facebook sent to her by Garcia showing Edther smiling in the hospital Thursday.
“He’s being strong and recovering,” Garcia said. “He’s been stronger than all of us. He’s giving me that strength to be able to give him the strength to keep that smile.”
