Man, 58, discharged from Royal Darwin Hospital after Territory Day firework explosion
A man who went into surgery following a Territory Day firework explosion has been discharged from Royal Darwin Hospital.
Northern Territory
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A man whose groin was impaled by flying shrapnel during a horror fireworks mishap has been discharged from Royal Darwin Hospital.
The 58-year-old man was one of two unlucky Territory Day celebrants caught in the crossfire of a homemade “launching pad” explosion.
NT Police Northern Watch Commander Sean Patterson said “a couple of blokes” were lighting fireworks inside a hollow steel pipe on a Virginia property when disaster struck at 8.50pm on Saturday.
Sergeant Patterson said the shrapnel lodged in the man’s groin, caused some bleeding and had to be surgically removed.
St John NT took the man to hospital alongside a 23-year-old man whose lower arm was severed by the shrapnel.
In a Monday radio interview, ambulance services director Andrew Thomas said the younger man’s amputated limb was also taken to RDH.
“Hopefully the team at the hospital, they will be able to try and see what they can do to reattach that for them,” Mr Thomas said.
“For any form of amputation, first aid is basically putting it into a bag and not putting it on ice, but just putting it in cold water.”
Mr Thomas said he was not aware if the man’s arm was successfully reattached.
An NT Health spokeswoman on Tuesday said the man remained in a serious but stable condition at RDH.
A St John NT spokeswoman said there were five more patients in the Darwin region that required ambulance transport at the weekend.
She said one had a burned back, another burned their leg at Mindil Beach, and three suffered facial burns at Lee Point Beach.
“A number of other people with injuries arranged their own transport to hospital,” the spokeswoman said.
“We received no calls for emergency assistance outside of the greater Darwin area.
“In comparison to last year, two patients were transported to hospital with burns and another person fell from their roof while watching fireworks.”
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Originally published as Man, 58, discharged from Royal Darwin Hospital after Territory Day firework explosion
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