SPRING HILL, Tenn. (WKRN) – A pregnant mother in Tennessee is recovering from serious burns and hopes her story will serve as a reminder for parents to be extremely cautious with fireworks.
It’s a day Katie Bihl and her husband Luke will never forget. A firework exploded on Katie during a block party in Spring Hill on Sunday. Bihl, who is 28 weeks pregnant, said things just got out of hand.
“We had a safety line in the street nobody was supposed to go past and then all of a sudden it turned to chaos. Multiple people were lighting off fireworks at different times and places,” explained Bihl.
Katie’s husband said a neighbor set a firework off on an unstable surface.
“My neighbor had bought one of those circus boxes and I think that one had six or seven fireworks. They were smaller than a mortar but basically still a mortar. We lit off a couple mortars and we had the circus box on the four by eight. The mortars went off and the circus box tipped over and started shooting at us and that’s what happened,” explained Luke Bihl.
Bihl was filming the fireworks about 30 yards away the moment the explosion happened. She had her three-year-old son in her lap.
“All of a sudden, they were exploding in front of my face, and I didn’t know where it was coming from or how long it was going to last or what was happening,” explained Bihl.
One of the fireworks exploded on Bihl’s legs. Bihl said she instinctively protected her son and ran toward their house. Both she and her son were rushed to the emergency room at Williamson Medical Center for treatment.
Bihl received a range of serious burns on her legs and her son received a minor burn to his thigh. While receiving treatment, Bihl realized these incidents happen far too often.
“We were in the ER and they said there were 12 other people there at the same time with firework injuries. It’s much more common than people think, and you never know when it could happen to you,” she said.
Bihl said she’s just happy her son is okay, “We are so fortunate that it was not worse, thank god for protecting us.”
Bihl hopes her message serves as a reminder to read the warning labels on fireworks.
“Looking back, there were things that should have been done to make sure everyone was safe, but people get really excited and you take your safety for granted. Make sure you read the warning labels and that you have a plan.”
Bihl said she is still in a great deal of pain.
