The family of the teenager, who accidentally stepped on a homemade firework during the Fourth of July weekend, said that his left leg has been amputated below the knee.
The teenager, identified as Connor Golden, 18 years old, was visiting New York City and is from Virginia. He was at the park with two of his friends and were jumping from rocks. He accidentally stepped on the homemade firework, which was said to be wedged onto boulders. Neither of the two friends who was with him was injured, CBS News reported.
Photos of the teenager circulated online showing medical responders applying first aid on him. Sources claimed that his leg was blown off and the possibility of amputation has been announced in recent reports.
The grandfather of Golden, Terence, said that he has talked to the boy's father after the accident and confirmed that the lower left leg of the teen had to be amputated but Golden might have to undergo more surgeries. Terence continued, "It's going to take him a while to recover from this."
A tourist named John Murphy, said that he stayed with the teenager and his friends until emergency responders arrived. He noted that the left leg of Golden was severely damaged noting that all his bone and muscles were affected in the blast.
Lt. Mark Torre, the commanding officer of the New York Police Department's bomb squad, said in a statement that the homemade firework was designed to make a large noise and a flash but it might have not exploded at the right time and was then left in the area. Officials cleared that the blast was not in any way related to terrorism as the homemade device was placed away from where the crowd usually walks by.
Officials are still trying to identify the person responsible for the homemade device and people are urging anyone who knows any information about the matter to contact the police department.
