HAND AMPUTATED.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 263, 5 October 1936, Page 8

HAND AMPUTATED.

SMALL BOY INJURED. EXPLOSION IN GARDEN. NEW PLYMOUTH, Oct. 4. AYith one hand so severely torn by an explosion that it had to be amputated, a boy, aged eight, was admif> ted to tho Hawera Hospital. He is Sam McKoy, son of Mr and Mrs G. A. R. McKoy, of Hawera. There is an element of mystery in the explosion, except that the child said he put a match to a shiny, silvery thing, that blew up. It is suspected tlrat it was a detonator. The boy also suffered abrasions to his other hand and his face. It was reported from the hospital that his condition was fair. The child was playing in the yard at his home when his mother heard a loud report. She rushed into the yard ■and found the boy with one hand shockingly lacerated. He was severely shaken, but conscious, and was able to tell his mother what had happened. The explosion was heard by neighbours some distance away, and they hurried to the McKoy home to discover the cause. The boy was promptly given medical attention and rushed to the hospital, where the amputation was performed. .The accident follows a recent report from the Central School, where a box of one hundred detonators was being handled by a large number of children, and the deadly caps used as playthings. The detonators, which had been found under a hedge, intrigued the children, one of whom was trying to manufacture a whistle from the dangerous plaything.