The family of the man whose left arm was blown off when lighting illegal fireworks in front of his Islip Terrace home say that doctors cannot reattach the limb. Eric Smith's grandfather told the Daily News, "His arm is gone. It's not going to be attached." His uncle revealed to the Post that Smith asked about the extend of the damage, "He didn't realize how far it [the limb] was gone... He's going to have a rough road... a couple of tough weeks ahead of him. They could not attach the arm. It's severed from the shoulder down."
Smith, 36, was holding a July 4th party on Saturday when the incident occurred. Suffolk County police say he was using a three-foot launcher tube to light a rocket, but he didn't move away from it quickly enough. Friends had packed the arm on ice in hopes that doctors would be able to reattach it, but the injury was too great. Friend Simon Hick said, "He lit the fuse, and it was 'Boom! Boom!' - and he was [lying] in the street. That's how fast it happened," adding, "He was actually all-county when he played football for Lyndhurst High School, he works for the Long Island Railroad, he's got a beautiful wife, two beautiful children."
Smith's wife told the Post that her husband seemed "more worried about us than himself ... I could use some prayers." Smith is still in critical but stable condition at Nassau University Medical Center.
