Missouri teen blows off hands in fireworks accident

Editor's note: the content of this story is graphic and may be disturbing to some readers. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A Richmond teen is out of the hospital after he said a firework exploded in his hands. His friend was also badly hurt and is recovering at the University of Kansas Health System. His family said the "firework" was more like a homemade pipe bomb with metal shrapnel inside. "All I saw was white, and I couldn't hear," Carter Grabowski said. "I just kind of died for a second is what it felt like." Carter lost his hands, while his friend suffered severe injuries to both eyes. Both teens are fighting every day to heal.  Carter walked out of Children's Mercy Hospital on Monday for the first time in more than ten days. The 17-year-old and his mom Jamie are grateful he's alive. "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 Grabowski, Carter's mother, said. "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." Carter was at a friend's house when he found a couple of fireworks. Carter said he and his buddy, Preston, attempted to light one that had a short wick. It exploded in Carter's hands. "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." "There seemed to be metal shrapnel inside of them," Jamie 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. He said both eardrums have holes, and his stomach is burned. Meantime, Preston suffered two ruptured eardrums. He lost one thumb and shattered several fingers. While Carter wore sunglasses that day, Preston did not. "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. "It's just going to be really difficult from everyday life, getting dressed and going to the restroom," he said. Carter 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. The Grabowski's 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." Carter also thanked his supportive community. Family created a GoFundMe page for the teens. His friend also started a T-shirt fundraiser to support these families through recovery.