The Fireworks Mistake I Will Always Regret

Lauren Cahn 陈佳

What started out as a fun Fourth of July party quickly turned dangerous for this innocent bystander.

Some fireworks mishaps1 are extremely disappointing， like the time when San Diego accidentally set off all its July 4 fireworks at once， bringing an 18-minute planned-show to a close in a matter of seconds. But if no one gets hurt， we consider it a “win”.

Unfortunately， that was the case when then-teenager Mackie Hill took a hit from what she describes as a “ball of fire” back when she was in high school.

It happened at a backyard party in Pennsylvania， where New Jersey native， Mackie， and her friends had traveled to see an amateur2 backyard fireworks show. （More types of fireworks are legal in Pennsylvania than in New Jersey.）

Although it seemed like a perfectly good idea before the fact， “as things were getting set up and about to start， I had a bad feeling，” Mackie says. It was such a bad feeling， in fact， that Mackie decided to head into the house to watch from inside. “While walking back towards the house， I heard the fireworks starting to go off behind me and turned around to see them，” she recalls.

Big mistake.

It was at that moment that a stray3 firework was flying directly at Mackie， and， before she had a chance to react， she was hit in the chest. Making matters worse， she was wearing a halter top4. In her panic， she forgot all about “stop， drop and roll”. Instead， she tried to smother5 the fire with her hands， but she realized the actual firework was still on her skin.

“It was literally melting6 into my skin，” she recalls. “I had to find a way to pull it off with my bare hands.” At that point， Mackie must have gone into shock because although she was later diagnosed7 with deep second-and third-degree burns， she managed to walk herself inside the house， where she found a bathroom and cleaned the soot8 off of herself. Then she proceeded to hide her injuries from her mom...until she couldnt take the pain anymore.

“After I reluctantly told her， she made me go to the hospital，” Mackie says. Thats where she was diagnosed with burns so deep. Her doctor was amazed that shed managed to treat her burns herself so effectively they were already beginning to heal. （Not surprisingly， burns are one of the most common firework injuries.） “It is now a decade later and I am happy to say， I only have one small scar on the base of my wrist as proof of the incident.”

一開始这是个有趣的美国独立日派对，但很快它对无辜的旁观者造成了危险。

一些烟花事故极其让人扫兴，比如7月4日在圣地亚哥意外同时燃放了所有的烟花，使一场计划为18分钟的烟花表演在几秒钟内就结束了。但如果没有人受伤，我们还能认为这是个“成功”。

不幸的是，在中学的时候，当时十几岁的麦基·希尔被她描述为“火球”的东西击中了。

这件事发生在宾夕法尼亚州的一个后院派对上，新泽西人麦基和她的朋友们去那里看了一场业余人士燃放的后院烟花表演。（宾夕法尼亚州合法的烟花种类比新泽西州多。）

虽然这在事故发生之前似乎是个非常好的主意，“随着事情的发展和事故即将发生，我有一种不好的感觉。”麦基说。事实上，这种感觉太糟糕了，麦基决定进屋里去看。她回忆说：“当我向屋子走去的时候，我听到身后开始燃放烟花的声音，然后转过身去看。”

但这是个大错误。

就在那一刻，一支迷路的烟花正朝麦基飞来，她还没来得及反应，就被击中胸部。更糟的是，她穿着吊带上衣。惊慌失措中，她完全忘记了“停下，倒地，滚动（美国宣传的关于着火自救的手段）”，而是试图用手把火扑灭，但她意识到真正的烟花还在她的皮肤上。

“它真的融化在我的皮肤里了。”她回忆说，“我得想办法徒手把它拉下来。”在那一刻，麦基一定濒临休克了，因为尽管后来她被诊断出有严重的二级到三级烧伤，但她还是设法走进屋里，找到了一个浴室，并清理了身上的烟尘。接着，她对妈妈隐瞒了她的伤势……直到她再也无法忍受疼痛。

“在我不情愿地告诉她之后，她让我去了医院。”麦基说。在那里，她被诊断为严重烧伤。医生惊讶地发现，她居然能如此有效地处理自己的烧伤，烧伤已经开始愈合了。（毫不奇怪，烧伤是烟花带来的最常见的伤害之一。）“现在已经过去十年了，我可以很高兴地说，我的手腕下只留下了一个小伤疤作为那次事故的证据。”