DANIA BEACH, Fla. – Broward Sheriff's Office Fire Rescue officials have released the 911 calls made after a firework exploded in a man's hand in Dania Beach on the Fourth of July.
"Something happened over in Dania Beach with fireworks or something," the first caller said.
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"OK. What do you mean something happened? Is someone hurt?" a dispatcher asked.
"I'm not over there but I saw people light some kind of firework and the man's lying on the ground," the caller said.
Authorities said that man was Cornelius Brown, 24, of Margate, who was setting off fireworks outside a home in the 100 block of Northwest 13 Avenue in Dania Beach.
"The fireworks exploded and a person lost their hand," another caller told a dispatcher. "They're bleeding bad."
LISTEN: Full 911 recording
The caller said Brown was conscious, but shortly after another man called 911 and he wasn't sure about Brown's condition.
"He lit one of those dynamite and it blew his hand off," the man said. "I don't know if he's breathing. I don't know if it hit anywhere else. I'm not really trying to look -- he's really messed up."
Authorities said Brown was holding the firework in his hand when it went off.
Brown was taken to Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale in critical condition. Authorities said he lost most of his left hand above the wrist.
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