Missouri Teen Injured in Tragic Fireworks Accident Loses Hands

A 17-year-old Missouri boy named Carter Grabowski lost both his hands and sustained additional injuries in a explosion incident.

The incident occurred on Friday, April 17, 2026, when a group of friends were lighting fireworks in Richmond, Missouri. Speaking about the incident, Carter's mother stated, "As soon as we walked in, he said, ‘Mom, I’m so sorry; my hands are gone.’ I said, ‘Buddy, you’re alive; none of this was your fault,'" Jamie Grabowski, Carter's mother, stated.

According to a GoFundMe launched by Carter Grabowski's aunt, Bree Ladd, as the group of teenagers lit fireworks, someone brought another device, which was "round, about the size of a baseball, with a short wick, and sounded like it had power inside when shaken."

"They were told it was safe," Carter's aunt stated, adding, "It wasn't."

According to the teenager's aunt, the firework was allegedly a homemade pipe bomb filled with metal shrapnel.

She explained that the intensity of the bomb prompted nearby residents to run outside, thinking a house had exploded.

Due to the blast, Carter sustained multiple injuries. In addition to losing both his hands, he ruptured his eardrums and suffered from shrapnel injuries through his body.

Meanwhile, his friend Preston suffered ruptured eardrums, shrapnel wounds to his eyes, face, arms, and stomach, and severe trauma to his hands, and lost his thumb.

Carter's aunt added that Preston, who was not wearing sunglasses at the time of the explosion, had eyes filled with blood and debris, and doctors were unable to fully assess the damage. She added that Preston required a breathing tube in place due to the severity of his injuries and pain, could not see and struggled to communicate.

In an interview with FOX4KC, Carter stated that the wick did not light up before the firework suddenly exploded.

"I kind of got ready to throw it, but it went away. So, we held it again," Carter said. "And we were trying to light it, but it wasn’t lit at all. It wasn’t red, and it just went off, not even lit."

"All I saw was white, and I couldn't hear. I just kind of died for a second, is what it felt like," he added.

His mother, Jamie, explained that there seemed to be metal shrapnel inside them, claiming that the person who sold the fireworks in question didn't mention that they were homemade.

"There seemed to be metal shrapnel inside of them," Jamie explained. "So, whoever made it, I don’t know if it was an experiment or what. And they didn’t kind of say, ‘Hey, these are homemade,’ or anything. They just were like, ‘I just got a couple of fireworks for you.’ And then gave them to one friend, who brought them there, which Carter got."

According to the outlet, Carter was discharged from Children’s Mercy Hospital on Monday after being hospitalized for 10 days.

"I’ve just been focusing on the positive, not the negative," Carter said. "I could be dead, which I’m definitely not happy with, but I’m grateful. I’m glad it’s not way worse because it could be," he added.

Meanwhile, the GoFundMe has raised $6,846 raised of its $7,000 goal and will be split equally between Carter and Preston.

The incident is under investigation by the Missouri Department of Public Safety.