TULSA, Okla. — A tragic and unexpected July 4th accident. A Tulsa man lost his eye from a firework.
“These kids ran across the intersection and didn’t know we were on the oncoming intersection and pitched some artilleries down the street and we just walked right into them and boom,” said Diquon Hughes.
Despite the pain of 29-year-old Diquon Hughes’ situation, he’s still finding reasons to laugh.
“Almost everybody that came in there, came with bears,” said Hughes.
A couch full of teddy bears is just a small reminder of his week long stay in the hospital.
“The thoughts that were going through my head is, what does it look like because I can’t see out of it,” said Hughes.
During that hospital stay, doctors had to remove one of his eyes.
“Never in my life did I think that this was going to happen,” said Hughes.
Hughes was spending the July 4th holiday with his family in Muskogee. At Rotary Park, he says kids were shooting fireworks at each other and one of them exploded in his face.
“I got hit in the eye by something I knew that, but I was just waiting on my eye sight to come back and it never came back,” said Hughes.
He says it’s been a journey to recovery one that’s been painful at time.
“Loud noises traumatize me,” said Hughes. “I have to learn how to walk straight again. My equilibrium is off.”
He’s relying on his friends, family and faith for support.
“Build your faith in God because that’s really the ultimate foundation of getting through losing an eye at 29 years old,” said Hughes.
Muskogee police say they see a lot of people in Rotary park every year shooting fireworks. They say it’s incredibly dangerous to shoot them at other people because it can end in tragedy.
“To just be mindful that somebody’s son, somebody’s daughter, somebody’s father, somebody’s sister or brother is out there and to just be more careful with any and everything you do in celebration,” said Hughes.
Hughes is trying to raise money for prosthetic eye. It’ll cost about $4,500 out of pocket. You can donate here if you’d like to help.
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