'Be careful': Indy mom, daughter share fireworks accident story

INDIANAPOLIS — Kayla and Harlee Cox are back in the lobby of Riley Hospital for Children for the first time since the summer of 2019.

“I tell a lot of people I look up to Harlee even though she’s nine and I’m in my 30s,” Kayla said with a laugh and smile.

Outgoing, smiley, just an overall good kid — that’s Harlee in a nutshell. She’s a kid with undeniable perseverance.

“When I look at Harlee, I just think that she is so strong because if that was me, I don’t even know that I would be the person she is today,” Kayla said.

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The Fourth of July is one of the nine-year-old’s favorite holidays, but it is also a day filled with mixed emotions.

“The Fourth of July is a very scary holiday for me, I think, just because of everything I watched happened to my child,” Kayla said.

It all happened back on the Fourth of July in 2019. Following a family and friends BBQ, the mother and daughter were watching fireworks go off in their Indianapolis backyard.

Kayla said Harlee was laying on a blanket taking videos of the fireworks, but one firework never went off. Instead it tipped over, misfiring.

“Next thing I knew, I seen sparks flying and I kind of looked over and noticed that Harlee was on fire,” Kayla said. She remembers picking up a cooler and dumping the water on Harlee to put out the fire.

The Cox family then rushed Harlee to an area hospital before she was transferred to Riley’s burn unit where she stayed for upwards of a month. She suffered severe injuries to her neck, chest, arm and hand.

In the three years since the accident, Harlee underwent six surgeries. Harlee said her family's support helped her through recovery.

“When they’re setting off fireworks when I’m with my family, I feel nervous and scared because [of] what happened to me. I feel like it can happen again,” Harlee said.

Since 2018, Riley’s burn unit has treated 18 kids with firework-related injuries including one this year. Doctors tell WRTV the best advice is to leave the fireworks to the professionals. It is advice the Cox family echoes.

“We just want people to be careful and to never think that it can’t happen to you, because it can,” Kayla said.

The now soon-to-be fourth grader wants other kids to take this away from her story.

“I want people to know that even if something happens to you, you can always be strong,” Harlee said.

Tips on keep kids safe around fireworks via Riley Hospital for Children Plastic Fellow:

• Adults should only use fireworks
• Close supervision
• Keep water nearby
• Leave fireworks to professionals

“Everything comes with a risk and that includes fireworks, as well. And the risk happens in a moment and the damage lasts for a life," Riley Hospital for Children Plastic Fellow, Dr. Prabhu Senthil-Kumar, said.