Family of California boy who lost his fingers in fireworks accident gives warning

(NBC, KYMA/KECY) - The family of a California boy who lost his fingers in a fireworks accident is warning others to be careful around fireworks.

11-year-old Edther Ocampo was back at UCI Medical Center Monday, but there was no surgeries and no checkups. Just to check-in.

Ocampo's bright smile on full display as he reunited with the doctors and nurses who saved him.

"It's wonderful to see him doing so well, both him and his brother, but him in particular had such traumatic injuries. He seems so happy now, it really warms my heart," said Dr. Michael Lekawa with UCI Medical Center.

Last July, Ocampo and his brother Dominic were rushed to the ER where doctors say Ocampo's injuries were the most severe of several firework related injuries that week. He lost three fingers on his left hand.

"He had a colon injury, a stomach injury, and a small bowel injury, all that required resection," Dr. Lekawa added.

Doctors say it's the injuries you can't see that almost took his life.

"There are certain types of fireworks that are essentially loaded with types of gunpowder that explode. They're like small pieces of dynamite and they cause an explosion which has a wave of energy that passes through your body," Lekawa shared.

The brothers say they were walking home from soccer practice when they noticed some debris left over from fireworks from Fourth of July.

"Once we got to my grandma's, we thought it was like a smoke bomb, so we lit it up. I couldn't see and I could hear my brother screaming," Ocampo explained.

Investigators say it was an unused aerial shell, commonly used to launch skyrockets into the air.

"Fireworks might seem harmless, but in a dangerous situation, they're not," Dominic expressed.

Ocampo has not only recovered, he's back on the soccer field. His mom says like nothing ever happened.

"If you look at him, you're like he's happy and smiling," said Ocampo's mother.

Now, the entire family wants to raise awareness about the dangers of fireworks and the importance of cleaning up afterward so no other family has to go through what they did.

"We want to help prevent situations like these for people just not playing with fireworks because they're very dangerous," Ocampo's mother remarked.