KEY POINTS:
While most children will revel in the traditional bangs, whizzes and crackles of Guy Fawke's night, little Brett Shortall will be doing his best to hide from the celebrations.
The 4-year-old cannot bear November 5 after being horribly burned in a fireworks accident last year when a flaming missile hit him in the chest. Even the sound of popping balloons or noisy crowds makes him tremble with fear.
The preschooler was horrifically maimed and needed skin grafts to treat the second degree burns to his stomach and hands.
Now, his mother has called for a complete ban on the private sale of fireworks.
"I heard this bloodcurdling scream from behind me. I turned around and there was this huge fireball stuck to Brett's chest," Carlie Shortall told the Herald on Sunday.
Disaster struck when Ben and Carlie Shortall took their two preschool children to watch a fireworks display at a cousin's home near Palmerston North last year. Everything was set up safely, with the fireworks being lit in a paddock about 30m from the house, and buckets of water to douse any errant explosions.
But "all hell broke loose" when one of the rockets exploded out the side of the cardboard holder and flew towards the startled spectators.
"I turned around and Brett was on fire, this fireball looked huge on his little body," Carlie said.
Brett had been hit in the stomach by the pyrotechnic which set his jacket on fire. He tried to pull it off with his hands, scorching his palms and fingers. His mother tackled him to the ground in a desperate bid to smother the flames.
"All I could think was 'stop, drop and roll'. The only problem was the cracker was still exploding on him. I could hear this bang, bang, bang."
Bystanders poured whatever liquid they could find to extinguish the flames and then Brett was dunked under water in the kitchen sink. The intense heat of the flames had melted his jacket zip and his flannel pyjamas to the inside of the jacket.
Burns covered most of his torso, blistering his skin.
He was rushed to Palmerston North Hospital and and transferred to Lower Hutt for plastic surgery the next day.
"It seemed like it was forever. All Brett could say was, 'Cuddle me mummy' but I couldn't because of the burns," Carlie said.
Brett had second-degree burns to 10 per cent of his body and surgeons needed to graft skin from his upper thigh to his stomach.
Bandages were wrapped around his hands to protect his fingers, prompting Brett to proudly display his "boxing gloves" to all who visited.
Though scarred for life, Carlie believes the psychological wounds are deeper than the physical ones.
- HERALD ON SUNDAY
