Part of man's leg blown off on the 4th of July - KMSP-TV

There are singe marks on the driveway and remnants of fireworks on the 500 block of East Hayes where police and neighbors say a 21-year-old man in a wheelchair blew his leg off while setting off explosives on the Fourth of July.

"We believe he lit one.  It then slipped down between his legs and ignited," said Hazel Park Police Chief Martin Barner.

"The bang was powerful.  I'm surprised the porch was still standing there," said Jayne Crook.  "Blew him right out of his wheelchair."

The victim's friend described a gruesome and bloody scene.  Police believe the man was lighting a quarter stick of dynamite or something even more powerful and illegal even under Michigan's new fireworks law.  He may have also been drinking.

"He was lighting a candy cane stick, it's like a stick of dynamite, and it wasn't real close to him, but it had a short fuse on it," Crook said.

"Portion of the leg, the foot and some bone was attached was found across the street approximately 50 feet away from the victim," Barner said.

"His leg blew off is what I got told," said a neighbor.  "They found it right in my yard, right there by the tree is where his leg was.  There was pieces on my porch."

We asked Crook whether his friend realized how powerful it was?

"I don't think so.  I don't think he knew."

That friend also told us the victim's leg had to be amputated, but he has not yet regained consciousness and it's not clear yet whether he'll survive.

Friends say the victim, who was partially paralyzed from a shooting, recently got married.

The traumatic ordeal has friends and neighbors shaken up after seeing firsthand how dangerous fireworks can be.

"They just legalized something for all our people to come out here and hurt [themselves] with," Crook said.

"I would just encourage people to use common sense and just because they're legal doesn't make them any less dangerous," said Barner.