Quick intervention by a neighbor saves 11-year-old twin girls after fireworks accident in River Rouge

RIVER ROUGE, Michigan. – Eleven-year-old twin girls found what they thought were regular fireworks in their house.

According to police, they took the gun into the bathroom and lit it there.

Too late they realized they were in trouble and tried to get rid of it and it exploded.

“It really sounded like a bomb,” said neighbor Ernestine Dickerson.

Next, Mrs. Dickerson noticed the twins running toward her and that one of them looked as if her hand was missing.

She called her daughter Nikki and granddaughter Kye to help. While Nikki attached a tourniquet to one 11-year-old’s missing fingers, Dickerson held the other.

“I just told her everything was going to be OK,” Dickerson said.

River Rouge police quickly arrived on the scene and took both girls to the hospital.

River Rogue Deputy Police Chief Dasumo Mitchell told Local 4 that the fireworks they got their hands on were illegal.

“It’s bigger than an M80,” Mitchell said. “You can tell by the structural damage it’s done to the house.”

Police said they will track down the seller of the illegal fireworks, but believe Dickerson, her daughter and her granddaughter made a difference.

“One of our neighbors is a nurse and immediately applied the tourniquet. We congratulate her on her quick reaction,” Mitchell said.

The twins’ mother was at work when the incident occurred.

The girls love Dickerson and call her “Nana.” When we asked her how she was able to step in immediately to help, she told us, “God is great. God’s grace.”

Related: Emergency doctor in Michigan warns of the dangers of fireworks and gives safety tips