Man loses eye after rocket firework explodes in his face at Bonfire Night event
A man was left with life-changing injuries after a firework exploded in his face while he was enjoying Bonfire Night.
Connor McKenna-West and his fiancé Carl planned a firework extravaganza for 25 close family and friends at their home in Coulby Newham in Middlesborough to celebrate the annual event on November 5. The couple, who run a handyman business together, had kept aside a few remaining fireworks to use with their immediate family as the evening wound down, reports TeesideLive.
However disaster struck when Connor, 25, attempted to light the fuse of a rocket and instead of flying into the air, the firework exploded in his face. He was rushed to James Cook University Hospital with a fully shattered right eye and shrapnel wounds to his face and despite undergoing a four hour-long surgery he had to have his right eye removed.
Connor McKenna-West in hospital after the accident (Connor McKenna-West)He explained: "They weren't under the counter fireworks, they were legitimate fireworks, but I've went to light the rocket off and I don't even know whether the fuse lit or not, but the rocket has literally blow up in my face.
"It hadn't even taken off to go into the air, it's instantly exploded in my face. I've had a big piece of the rocket gone through the right hand side of my eyelid and its gone all the way through, shattered my eyeball and I had to have the eye removed in surgery."
Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him
A fundraiser was set up to help him and his fiancé Carl (Connor McKenna-West)Connor said doctors showed him images of how his eye looked before they operated on him and said the eyeball looked like 'a deflated football'. They explained to him that if the shrapnel had been lodged any further into his head it could have caused permanent brain damage, but he is determined to remain positive.
Connor said: "I'm just trying to be positive about it, because there's no point dwelling on it because I think it is what it is. No matter what I think in my own head it's not going to change it. I think my family and my friends are more traumatised than me to be honest."
Surgeons have fitted a prosthetic ball in his eye socket to retain its shape during recovery and in a few months he will be fitted for a prosthetic eye. Despite the traumatic incident, his family have rallied around to show their support, with Carl's mum, Kath Jennison even launching a GoFundMe page to help the pair manage while they are unable to work.
Kath said: "He had his full life ahead of him and his right eye has fully shattered and had to undergo surgery for it to be removed. The surgery has went well and will be on the mend for a prosthetic eye in the next few months."
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