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10-year-old sent to burn unit days after Roy firework show incident

Posted at 6:48 PM, Aug 07, 2019
and last updated 2019-08-07 21:59:50-04

ROY, Utah -- Kanyon Kupfer visited the University of Utah Hospital burn unit Wednesday morning, days after she was hit by a firework during the Roy Days firework show.

The 10-year-old and her family had been sitting on the west side of the park during the firework show when the wind pushed the fireworks towards them.

“It burnt right through my blanket and then it got me after it hit my blanket,” said Kupfer.

Screaming and running to her parents, Kupfer pointed to her legs where she was in pain. In the chaos of the crowd, Kupfer was rushed over to an ambulance on-scene, treated and released.

“Now it’s the size of a dollar bill that’s been ripped off of her leg,” said Kanyon's father Kevin Kupfer. “The skin has been ripped off and it’s all red. It’s definitely a lot redder than the ankle on her other leg too.”

Doctors at the burn unit told Kupfer she had second-degree burns on both her legs—she won’t be playing soccer for the rest of the summer.

“I have a tournament next week,” said Kupfer. “I’ve been working so hard for the tournament and I don’t even get to play.”

Kupfer’s disappointed is echoed by her father—Kevin can’t believe this is happening again.

FOX 13 spoke with another family on Sunday who’s daughter was hit in the head by a firework—they said they will never go that close again to fireworks.

The Kupfer’s were at Roy Days fire years ago when the same company set off a faulty firework that went sideways.

"We like our fireworks, but that was insane,” said Kevin Kupfer.

Fire Chief Jeff Comeau with the Roy City Fire Department said this year’s incident had a little wind involved causing fireworks to hit multiple people and ultimately causing them to shut down the show early.

The incident five years ago was because of one faulty firework.

Comeau said they’ve used the same company all these years—the same company that provided the fireworks for the 2002 Olympics. The firework company has its own liability insurance.