14-Year-Old Seriously Hurt In Explosion

Alabama Baldwin County  The Baldwin County Sheriff's Office says the teenager was making a homemade cannon when it blew up in his face. He lost his right ear and is now deaf.
by Jamie Burch
Published: Fri, May 29, 2009 - 12:17 pm CST Last Updated: Fri, May 29, 2009 - 1:37 pm CST
2:37 p.m.
The Sheriff's Office says the teenager lost his right ear and his now deaf.

1:17 p.m.
A 14-year-old Baldwin County boy is at USA Medical Center after he was seriously injured in an explosion.

The Sheriff's Office says the teenager was making a homemade cannon at a home on Charlie Head Road in Stapleton when it blew up in his face.

The explosion happened shortly before 1:00 p.m.

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this is a very good friend of mine i rushed to his house while I was at his cousins house, also, i went to see him today he is recovering wonderfully, he did not lose his ear, and is not deaf. he is fine, just part of his ear is messed up but will be recoved. so the news lied, also his brother who had injuries is also fine. today, we were all playing with there new baby cow. these boys come from a good family, and they are good kids. so people saying how bad they are are wrong. i love you guys.(: and i am hoping recovery is going to turn out amazing. you twins are amzing even if i can only tell you apart because of your shoes.(: besties. ily. and i will come see yall this week. you boys are amazing.

My dad told me about the time he was in boarding school in north Al in the 50s. They would make canons out of tin coke cans and shoot tennis balls across the campus. One of the boys blew his hand off. He was back the next semester poking everyone with the nub and helping to build a new canon.

@claycitymadness
blowing up aunts? did they get the uncles too?

tmal7: loud noise on dauphin island? some boys were out there blowing up aunts. they saw the story on the news and decided to so the same thing but they couldnt get the spelling right.

Yes, actually my boyfriend was telling me last week about how he used to blow up ants as a young kid.  I remember going to my cousin’s as a kid and he was always doing those sorts of things.  I know few grown men that still like to blow things up.  It’s a terrible tragedy and I pray for this child.  I have an 11 year old son and I can’t imagine the pain his parents feel now.

These twin boys are friends with my nephew.  I don’t know them personally but I have been told many times by people in the community that they are great kids with good parents.  They are highly intelligent and with that comes great curiosity.  It was a terrible accident, and I hope that he has the best possible outcome.  It is nice to see so many men stepping up and acknowledging that they did the same kind of thing at this age.  Boys (especially smart ones) are curious creatures.  Where would we be if no one ever experimented with things?  It does pay to be cautious but no one is perfect and children are unpredictable.  My prayers are with him for a speedy recovery.

this must be a guy thing because my husband said he did the same thing with ants. hope the kid is all right.

I was on dauphin island last night and we heard a loud explosion at about 9:30 p.m.. Anybody know what happened

I remember when we use to open up fire works and collect the gun power to blow up ant beds and such.

Potato Guns were the closes we came to making a cannon in my days, wow how times have changed.

I was a “bomb maker” at that age. Blew up ant beds and rat nests in old sheds. Never strong enough to cause serious damage. Hope the dude recoups.

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