I’m sharing harrowing pics of my son, 14, blinded by firework out of NOWHERE during park stroll – they MUST be banned
THE mum of a schoolboy blinded in one eye after being struck by a rogue firework while on a park stroll is begging for a ban on their sales.
Joseph Stopforth, 14, was pushing his bike in Childwall, Liverpool, when a firework hit his right eye “out of nowhere”.
The horrified incident on October 25 left Joseph in “complete agony” as he stumbled to his grandparents’ house so they could rush him to the hospital.
Joseph was left requiring emergency surgery, and full-time carer Jane Stopforth admits the incident has turned Joseph’s life “upside down.”
Doctors told her the firework hit him directly in his eye and damaged his optic nerve, causing complications that could mean he never sees out of that eye ever again.
Pictures show his right eye patched over as he lies in hospital, while another taken days later shows the dramatic difference to his left eye.
While the incident has been reported to Merseyside Police, the firework is believed to have been launched from someone’s back garden.
The force told The Sun that “enquiries suggest it was most likely accidental”.
Joseph’s mum, Jane, has since called for a blanket ban on firework sales to those outside of organised events.
The mum-of-three also set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for travel costs to the hospital and adaptations to the family home that could help Joseph.
Jane, from Liverpool, Merseyside, said: “It’s a horrific accident, it’s completely turned his life upside down.”
She described how Joseph had been off to his grandparents to stay the night when the incident occured.
The firework “came out of nowhere” and hit him in the eye.
After he made it to his grandparents’ house, they took him to the hospital, while Joseph’s grandad collected Jane.
Once at the hospital, they were informed of “problems” with Joseph’s eye.
She added: “It was directly inside the eye, it didn’t burn the skin, it’s quite horrific.
“I was terrified seeing my little boy, he’s such a good child.
“He was in a lot of pain, they think he’s still in shock now. He was in agony and he was shaking.
“It was a massive shock obviously but the pain was the worst.
“The rest of my son’s life has changed over someone’s stupidity of buying these things.”
The mum also called for the ban of private firework sales, saying she “never liked” them and sees no use in having fireworks outside of regulated displays.
Jane added: “It’s so frightening, they’re a danger, they need to be banned.”
Joseph had a three-and-a-half-hour surgery on November 1st to remove his eye lens but his injury was more severe than surgeons first thought.
The carer revealed her son will need further operations to determine if he’ll ever be able to see the outlines of objects again.
Jane said they removed the teenager’s lens as it had moved, and he had had a bleed at the back of his eye.
When they tried to re-attach it, they realised there was a “hell of a lot more wrong” with his eye and that he would need more surgery.
The mum was distraught to discover that the optic nerve that goes to the brain was damaged.
She said doctors “don’t know the outcome of it at this point” but are going to attempt to put a lens on his eye to try and make it “look normal.”
Jane added: “This is a waiting game now but it’s not going to return to anything like it was.”
She said the extent of Joseph’s injuries meant surgeons couldn’t complete their emergency operation and he’s due back in eight weeks for another op.
The full time carer admitted Joseph’s accident has put financial strain on the family so hopes to raise £3,000 via a fundraiser to cover hospital travel costs and home adaptations.
It is also preventing him from helping out with his disabled brother, Lewis Stopforth, 12.
Jane said: “It’s a big thing at 14 for your life to be just upside down. His whole life has just changed overnight.
“This is his world, he’s depressed at the moment, it’s really taken it out of him.”
She spoke of how much it would mean to the family to “make Joseph’s life easier” and to help him achieve his goals.
The mum-of-three added that he’s unlikely to be able to return to school until next year, and she doesn’t know how long it’ll be until he can continue his passions of running and fishing.
Joseph also provides care for his younger brother Lewis who has special needs and this has also now been disrupted.
She said: “It puts a lot of stress on everybody but Joseph is our concern. It’s impacting financially already.
“These adaptations that we’re going to need are going to cost us money that we don’t have.
“It’s going to hopefully make Joseph’s life a lot easier.
“He’s at that age where education is crucial. We need things adapted now which are very expensive which I can’t do.
“I don’t know how he’s going to adapt to life. We don’t know the outcome of anything at this point.”