Child lost vision in one eye due to Halloween firework as study reveals safety laws are being ignored
Stock image.A Halloween firework caused a young boy to permanently lose vision in one eye, according to a new children’s hospital study showing how safety laws are being flouted.The snapshot study from Halloween 2024 showed how 10 children were treated at Crumlin children’s hospital in Dublin for firework-related injuries over seven days.Three children needed to be admitted, two were taken to the operating theatre for hand fractures and one boy who had sustained an injury to his eye suffered a permanent loss of vision, according to the study in the Irish Medical Journal. All the patients were boys and had an average age of 12.For the last 20 years in Ireland, legislation makes it illegal to light fireworks, throw them at people or property, or to have them with intent to sell or supply without a licence. For the last 11 years, an EU Directive means that low-hazard fireworks should not be sold to children under the age of 12.In all, the cumulative stay for the children in hospital around Halloween 2024 was eight days.Some 22 plastic surgery dressing clinics or outpatient appointments were needed, as well as hand therapy sessions for those who suffered hand injuries.The study said its findings “suggests that prevalence of firework injuries in the paediatric population remains unchanged in the Halloween period despite the introduction of legislation to improve safety and regulatory sales of dangerous fireworks”.The research looked back at a similar study carried out in 2001 which highlighted 10 injuries among children over three weeks.It said that in other countries, the introduction of public safety announcements in the weeks leading up to Halloween may have the most impact on mitigating these “devastating paediatric injuries.”The author added that “consideration of mandatory reporting of such injuries to capture the impact of these injuries on the population on a national basis may help to improve regulation and monitoring of such devices.”
