M
Mookie
Guest
Salina Journal
News - Page A03
August 4, 2005
•EXPLOSION
Teen loses hearing after 'mowing' firework
Nasty surprise while mowing leads to a pleasant one later on
Darrin Stineman
Salina Journal
CONCORDIA (in Kansas) -- A riding lawnmower is all that separated 16-year-old Calani Hitchell from serious injury or death.
While mowing the yard July 9 -- the first Saturday after a nearby Independence Day fireworks display -- Calani struck what is believed to be a commercial firework shell, causing a huge explosion that rattled the windows of her house and caused people blocks away to call police.
The Troy-Bilt mower lifted off the ground and came back down upright, Calani said, but the blast didn't knock her out of her seat.
"I went to see my brother, and I asked him to say something, because I couldn't hear anything," Calani said Wednesday. "He said, 'Are you all right?' and I couldn't hear him. I could only read his lips.
"Then I went to see my mom, and I said, 'I think I broke the mower.' And she said, 'I don't care about the mower, how are you?' "
Except for the hearing loss, she was fine. Calani's doctor told her the hearing would gradually return, and as of Wednesday, she said it was almost all the way back.
The family believed Calani could've been severely injured or killed had it not been for the sturdiness of the mower, and they sent an e-mail to Troy-Bilt thanking them for building such a quality product.
Swayed by the praise in the letter -- and the fact that the Hitchell family has nine children -- Troy-Bilt decided to provide them with a new, $1,800 riding mower, which arrived July 27.
"We were shocked about that," Calani's father, Kevin, said of the phone call from the company vice president telling them of the gift. "We didn't know what to say. They brought one of their representatives from North Carolina and a film crew and some cake and everything."
Calani said she normally doesn't mow the lawn, but her dad was especially busy that week, so she offered to do it.
"I had gone around a couple of times, and I wasn't paying very close attention, and I saw something and didn't really focus on it and see what it was," she said. "It had the appearance of a mushroom, because the grass was really high."
Calani said she credits the mower with saving her life.
"Yes, because if the deck hadn't been so sturdy, any little spark could've gotten up there and hit the gas tank," she said, "and it would've blown me up."
News - Page A03
August 4, 2005
•EXPLOSION
Teen loses hearing after 'mowing' firework
Nasty surprise while mowing leads to a pleasant one later on
Darrin Stineman
Salina Journal
CONCORDIA (in Kansas) -- A riding lawnmower is all that separated 16-year-old Calani Hitchell from serious injury or death.
While mowing the yard July 9 -- the first Saturday after a nearby Independence Day fireworks display -- Calani struck what is believed to be a commercial firework shell, causing a huge explosion that rattled the windows of her house and caused people blocks away to call police.
The Troy-Bilt mower lifted off the ground and came back down upright, Calani said, but the blast didn't knock her out of her seat.
"I went to see my brother, and I asked him to say something, because I couldn't hear anything," Calani said Wednesday. "He said, 'Are you all right?' and I couldn't hear him. I could only read his lips.
"Then I went to see my mom, and I said, 'I think I broke the mower.' And she said, 'I don't care about the mower, how are you?' "
Except for the hearing loss, she was fine. Calani's doctor told her the hearing would gradually return, and as of Wednesday, she said it was almost all the way back.
The family believed Calani could've been severely injured or killed had it not been for the sturdiness of the mower, and they sent an e-mail to Troy-Bilt thanking them for building such a quality product.
Swayed by the praise in the letter -- and the fact that the Hitchell family has nine children -- Troy-Bilt decided to provide them with a new, $1,800 riding mower, which arrived July 27.
"We were shocked about that," Calani's father, Kevin, said of the phone call from the company vice president telling them of the gift. "We didn't know what to say. They brought one of their representatives from North Carolina and a film crew and some cake and everything."
Calani said she normally doesn't mow the lawn, but her dad was especially busy that week, so she offered to do it.
"I had gone around a couple of times, and I wasn't paying very close attention, and I saw something and didn't really focus on it and see what it was," she said. "It had the appearance of a mushroom, because the grass was really high."
Calani said she credits the mower with saving her life.
"Yes, because if the deck hadn't been so sturdy, any little spark could've gotten up there and hit the gas tank," she said, "and it would've blown me up."
Boy that girl was pretty lucky that she wasn't more seriously hurt. She had to been scared in a sense that she couldn't hear anything for awhile, but, importantly, she was alright, just more scared than anything.
