Fireworks injuries leave 10 Dutch children with amputations as victims grow younger

The number of children in the Netherlands suffering severe fireworks injuries is rising rapidly, with ten young people already losing an arm, hand or fingers by mid-December, according to new figures from the Dutch Association for Plastic Surgery. That is double the number recorded at the same point last year, when four victims had been reported.

Hand surgeons say the injuries are becoming both more severe and affecting increasingly younger victims. “It is getting younger and more severe,” Ernst Smits of the Dutch Association for Hand Surgery told AD. Over the past five years, the average age of fireworks victims has dropped sharply from 23 to 13. “Several hands have already been blown off this year, and we haven’t even really started yet,” he said.

Smits, who works at Erasmus MC in Rotterdam, warned that the most dangerous period is still ahead. “The peak is yet to come,” he said, referring to the coming week and a half, which traditionally accounts for the highest number of serious injuries. Last year, plastic surgeons treated 70 fireworks victims nationwide, and half of them were 18 or younger.

Doctors say most serious accidents involve illegal fireworks rather than legal consumer fireworks. Cobra fireworks are frequently responsible, Smits said, describing them as explosives with the force of a hand grenade. “When it goes wrong, it really goes wrong,” he said. “In 80 percent of cases, multiple fingers are lost.”

Although plastic surgeons strongly support a fireworks ban, the outlook for the coming days worries them. This is the final year in which fireworks may still be legally sold and, in many places, legally set off in the Netherlands.

To reach young people, the Dutch Association for Hand Surgery has launched an awareness campaign with Amsterdam-based clothing brand Four. The brand is releasing a one-armed hoodie, called the “Cobra One-Sleeve,” to show the impact of a severe fireworks injury. The campaign uses influencers including Soundos, Défano Holwijn and Montell to spread the message.

“Very often, children have no idea how powerful the fireworks are,” Smits told AD. “We’re trying to warn them. We’re grateful that a clothing brand is offering a platform with well-known influencers. Young people don’t watch as much television as we used to; they get their information through social media. We hope this helps us reach them. If we can prevent even one victim, then for me it’s already a success.”