The Fireworks Mistake I Will Always Regret

Lauren Cahn 陳佳

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(kāi)始這是個(gè)有趣的美國(guó)獨(dú)立日派對(duì)，但很快它對(duì)無(wú)辜的旁觀者造成了危險(xiǎn)。

一些煙花事故極其讓人掃興，比如7月4日在圣地亞哥意外同時(shí)燃放了所有的煙花，使一場(chǎng)計(jì)劃為18分鐘的煙花表演在幾秒鐘內(nèi)就結(jié)束了。但如果沒(méi)有人受傷，我們還能認(rèn)為這是個(gè)“成功”。

不幸的是，在中學(xué)的時(shí)候，當(dāng)時(shí)十幾歲的麥基·希爾被她描述為“火球”的東西擊中了。

這件事發(fā)生在賓夕法尼亞州的一個(gè)后院派對(duì)上，新澤西人麥基和她的朋友們?nèi)ツ抢锟戳艘粓?chǎng)業(yè)余人士燃放的后院煙花表演。（賓夕法尼亞州合法的煙花種類比新澤西州多。）

雖然這在事故發(fā)生之前似乎是個(gè)非常好的主意，“隨著事情的發(fā)展和事故即將發(fā)生，我有一種不好的感覺(jué)。”麥基說(shuō)。事實(shí)上，這種感覺(jué)太糟糕了，麥基決定進(jìn)屋里去看。她回憶說(shuō)：“當(dāng)我向屋子走去的時(shí)候，我聽(tīng)到身后開(kāi)始燃放煙花的聲音，然后轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身去看?！?/p>

但這是個(gè)大錯(cuò)誤。

就在那一刻，一支迷路的煙花正朝麥基飛來(lái)，她還沒(méi)來(lái)得及反應(yīng)，就被擊中胸部。更糟的是，她穿著吊帶上衣。驚慌失措中，她完全忘記了“停下，倒地，滾動(dòng)（美國(guó)宣傳的關(guān)于著火自救的手段）”，而是試圖用手把火撲滅，但她意識(shí)到真正的煙花還在她的皮膚上。

“它真的融化在我的皮膚里了。”她回憶說(shuō)，“我得想辦法徒手把它拉下來(lái)?！痹谀且豢?，麥基一定瀕臨休克了，因?yàn)楸M管后來(lái)她被診斷出有嚴(yán)重的二級(jí)到三級(jí)燒傷，但她還是設(shè)法走進(jìn)屋里，找到了一個(gè)浴室，并清理了身上的煙塵。接著，她對(duì)媽媽隱瞞了她的傷勢(shì)……直到她再也無(wú)法忍受疼痛。

“在我不情愿地告訴她之后，她讓我去了醫(yī)院。”麥基說(shuō)。在那里，她被診斷為嚴(yán)重?zé)齻?。醫(yī)生驚訝地發(fā)現(xiàn)，她居然能如此有效地處理自己的燒傷，燒傷已經(jīng)開(kāi)始愈合了。（毫不奇怪，燒傷是煙花帶來(lái)的最常見(jiàn)的傷害之一。）“現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)過(guò)去十年了，我可以很高興地說(shuō)，我的手腕下只留下了一個(gè)小傷疤作為那次事故的證據(jù)?！?/p>