FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – As he was being wheeled into surgery Wednesday night, Miles' parents told him not to cry.
The 6-year-old put on a brave face, as doctors prepared to amputate his left hand after a firework accident.
The incident took place at about 6 p.m. in the 3400 block of Southwest 12th Court.
"We heard a big noise," Marcus Sterling said. "It went bang. We didn’t know what happened."
The ear shattering sound brought Sterling and his sister Sabrina to their front yard.
"I came outside and the girls were just screaming. They were just screaming like, 'Call 911, call the ambulance,'" Sabrina Sterling said.
The siblings saw Miles bleeding.
"I came in and saw he was bleeding on his face and they had towels all over his hands and blood all over the floor," Sabrina Sterling said.
Family members said the incident happened in the child's own front yard as he was cleaning and picking up debris with an older sister.
"The girls were, like, going in the backyard checking to see if his fingers were out there," Sabrina Sterling said.
The boy's grandmother rushed the injured child's finger to an emergency room with the hopes of doctors being able to reattach his digits.
In the end, doctors were not able to save the hand.
"I felt really bad for him," Sabrina Sterling said.