“All I saw was white, and I couldn’t hear” Teen loses hand, several fingers in fireworks accident

Editor's note: The content of this story is graphic and may be disturbing to some readers. KANSAS CITY, Mo. (WDAF) -- A teenager is out of the hospital while his friend continues to receive care after a firework explosion. "All I saw was white, and I couldn't hear," Carter Grabowski told Nexstar's WDAF. "I just kind of died for a second, is what it felt like." Carter, 17, was at a friend's house when he found a couple of fireworks. Carter said he and his friend, Preston, attempted to light one that had a short wick. "I kind of got ready to throw it, but it went away. So, we held it again," Carter said. "And we were trying to light it, but it wasn't lit at all. It wasn't red, and it just went off, not even lit." It exploded in Carter's hands. His family said the "firework" was more like a homemade pipe bomb. "There seemed to be metal shrapnel inside of them," Jamie Grabowski, Carter's mother, added. "So, whoever made it, I don't know if it was an experiment or what. And they didn't kind of say, 'Hey, these are homemade,' or anything. They just were like, 'I just got a couple of fireworks for you.' And then gave them to one friend, who brought them there, which Carter got." Carter lost his right hand and several fingers on his left. His stomach is burned, and both of his eardrums have holes. "As soon as we walked in, he said, 'Mom, I'm so sorry; my hands are gone.' I said, 'Buddy, you're alive; none of this was your fault,'" Jamie recounted. After more than 10 days, Carter was able to walk out of Children's Mercy Hospital on Monday. While Carter wore sunglasses that day, Preston did not. Preston suffered severe injuries to both eyes and eardrums. He lost a thumb and shattered several fingers. He remained hospitalized as of Monday. "He's not doing the best," Carter said about Preston. "The metal shrapnel that was in the bomb, or whatever you want to call it, got his face bad and his eyeballs." Eager to reunite, Carter's first stop out of Children's Mercy was to surprise Preston in his hospital room. Carter knows they have a long road to recovery ahead. However, he's adapting to his new normal. He has surgery on Wednesday for a skin graft. Doctors plan to take his toe and reattach it like a thumb. In six weeks, he could also get a prosthetic hand. "I've just been focusing on the positive, not the negative," Carter said. "I could be dead, which I'm definitely not happy with, but I'm grateful. I'm glad it's not way worse because it could be." The Grabowskis share a warning about fireworks. "If it doesn't seem worth it, don't do it," Carter said. "It changed so many hands," Jamie said. "Unless you're getting it exactly from the tents that are legit, and even those are scary, too. So, you just got to always be careful. Not worth the risk." The family created a GoFundMe page for the teens, with a total goal of about $6,000. Carter's friend also started a T-shirt fundraiser to support the families through their recovery.  On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Public Safety said its Division of Fire Safety (DFS) is joining the investigation. DFS was never able to investigate the immediate scene; however, the Richmond Fire Department requested that it investigate the events that led up to the explosion. According to DFS, it is believed that several jurisdictions were involved beyond the location of the explosion. At this time, the investigation is ongoing.