‘Lucky to be alive’: 65-year-old Lincoln man struck by firework returns home

65-year-old Lincoln man Jim Wright was watching the firework shows from his driveway Wednesday night when he heard a loud noise.

One of the artillery shells had tipped over in the street, and flew right at him, detonating on impact.

He says he’s lucky to be alive.

“It was an explosion right in my face, was all I saw. I was in the wrong spot at the wrong time I guess,” said Wright.

Wright says suddenly he heard a loud noise and that’s when he knew something had gone horribly wrong.

“When it hit, I jumped up and looked down, I could see blood shooting out, it was pretty bad I could tell so I yelled for help and they came over, luckily the people lighting them off were EMS personnel and one was a nurse,” said Wright.

Wright was rushed to Bryan West hospital to receive treatment for his injuries.

A portion of his right bicep was taken out by the blast, and he had severe burns down his right side.

“I had absolutely no warning, one exploded right here, hit me in the arm and took out my bicep, burnt all down in here, I have stitches down here, 38 stitches here in my arm,” said Wright.

Wright showed me what his shirt looked like after taking the brunt of the firework explosion.

The fabric was ribbed apart and burned badly. 

Wright spent the Fourth of July in the hospital where he underwent successful surgery Thursday to repair his arm.

He is still heavily bandaged, and looking back, is thankful to still be breathing.

“I’m just lucky to be alive, and it could have been worse, it could have hit me in the head or neck or something, and I probably wouldn’t be here,” said Wright.

This makes four consecutive years that a Lincoln civilian was seriously injured in a fireworks accident.

Next year, Wright says he will take extra precautions.

“Well, the next Fourth of July I’m going to go in the basement and throw a rug over my head I think so I’m not going to sit out very close, watching people light them off,” said Wright.

Understanding that he is now apart of an unfortunate yearly trend in Lincoln, Wright has some advice for those planning to celebrate with fireworks again next July.

“Be careful around fireworks, all I can say is, even if you’re not lighting them off, it’s no fun to get hurt.”

Wright and his wife were planning on leaving Friday for a two month long vacation, so that had to be put on hold for obvious health reasons.

Neighbors tell me they are very happy to learn that Wright will be okay.