Two teenagers have been left with horrific injuries after setting off what they thought was a homemade firework - only for it to be a pipe bomb.
Carter Grabowski and Preston Sloan were lighting fireworks at a friend's house in Richmond, Missouri on April 17.
One of their friends brought with them a 'homemade' explosive which they were told was safe, according to a GoFundMe set up to support them.
'What they were given was not a firework,' Grabowski's aunt Bree Ladd wrote.
'From everything we've been told, it was essentially a homemade pipe bomb filled with metal shrapnel.'
Grabowski, 17, told FOX4KC that there were no signs the firework would explode after he had trouble igniting the wick.
'All I saw was white, and I couldn't hear. I just kind of died for a second, is what it felt like,' he said.
Grabowski lost both his hands, ruptured his eardrums, and suffered injuries from shrapnel.
Sloan sustained life-altering injuries as well, losing a thumb, shattering several fingers and suffering serious damage to his eye.
Carter Grabowski and Preston Sloan were at a friend's house in Richmond on the night of April 17, when they suffered life altering injuries after a homemade firework unexpectedly exploded
Grabowski, 17, lost both his hands, ruptured his eardrums, and suffered injuries from shrapnel that struck him across his body
Sloan lost a thumb, shattered several fingers, and suffered serious damage to his eye
His family said the debris from the bomb was lodged in his face and eyes.
Grabowski's mother Jamie said the device seemed to be filled with metal shrapnel: 'So, whoever made it, I don’t know if it was an experiment or what. And they didn’t kind of say, "Hey, these are homemade," or anything.'
'They just were like, "I just got a couple of fireworks for you." And then gave them to one friend, who brought them there, which Carter got.'
Her son was discharged after 10 days in the hospital on April 27, where he endured multiple surgeries.
According to the outlet, doctors are planning to use Grabowski's toe and place it on his hands, reattach it like a thumb.
Additionally, he may receive a prosthetic hand in six weeks.
Cindy Teegarden, Preston's mother, noted online that he was released from KU Medical Hospital on Saturday after 16 days.
Grabowski was discharged after 10 days in the hospital on April 27
He told FOX4KC that there were no signs the firework would explode after he had trouble igniting the wick. He added when firework went off it felt like he had died for a moment
'He still has critical injuries, and his eyesight is still impaired,' Teegarden wrote.
'So going home knowing that he has to depend on his momma to care for him was scary and stressful. We've had a lot of hospital stays, but this is a whole new, different kind of care.'
She added that he has a long road of recovery ahead but has already shown signs of improvement.
Grabowski's mother also warned about fireworks: 'It changed so many hands.'
'Unless you’re getting it exactly from the tents that are legit, and even those are scary, too. So, you just got to always be careful. Not worth the risk.'
A Missouri Department of Public Safety spokesperson told Fox on April 28 that the department's Division of Fire Safety is joining the ongoing investigation.