Nine-year-old boy's fingers are blown off after he picked up unexploded firework from ground when it was thrown at him by group of teenagers

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A nine-year-old boy has lost two fingers after they were blown off in a firework attack by teenagers when he was playing in a park den.

Little Kyran Payne was playing with his friend Bradley Guzvic, eight, when older teenagers threw a firework into their den.

Kyran picked up the rocket not knowing what it was - only for the device to blow up in his hands.

Both boys were knocked unconscious before being rushed to hospital with severe burns and Kyran has since lost two fingers. 

They both suffered damage to their eyes during the blast in Hengoed, Caerphilly, with Kyran's sight not returning until six days after the explosion. 

Kyran's father Liam said the hospital has to pick out bits of glass and metal from his son's face

Little Kyran Payne cheerfully puts on a brave face while lying in bed at Bristol Royal Infirmary

Kyran picked up the rocket not knowing what it was - only for the device to blow up in his hands and he has since lost two fingers and needs a skin graft for his palm

Kyran's father, Liam, said: 'As he picked it up it went bang in his hand. They were sat right next to each other. There was no way of running off.

'One of his most vivid memories is watching his fingers fall off as he was walking home.

'As you can imagine, we have been dealing with quite a distressed little boy.

'He didn't want to walk because he couldn't see, he couldn't understand where he was.

'He was getting quite frightened every time he heard loud noises.'

Kyran is still at Bristol Royal Infirmary and needs a skin graft on his hand from the arch of his foot as he lost the muscle, tendon and fat in his palm.

His father added: 'He burnt his corneas, he burnt his eyes, he's got permanent scarring and tattooing of the face.

'He got shrapnel burns across his chest, his stomach, burnt his legs, he's lost his little finger, lost his ring finger and lost a chunk of his middle finger.

Liam said Kyran was now asking after his best friend Bradley and he hoped the boys could play together again soon

'It's all in his face and his eyes.

'When you looked in his eye, when it first happened you could see the cuts and everything across the front of his eyeballs.

'He had a lot of shrapnel. They said they were picking glass and metal out of his face.'

Liam said Kyran was now asking after his best friend Bradley and he hoped the boys could play together again soon.

He said: 'They've been brilliant friends for quite a few years. It will bring them closer together.'

Bradley's dad Rhydian is calling for lawmakers to make it illegal to purchase fireworks without a licence. 

Pictured is Bradley Guzvic, Kyran's best friend, before he was injured in the attack

Bradley's dad Rhydian is calling for lawmakers to make it illegal to purchase fireworks without a licence

He added: 'You shouldn't be allowed to buy fireworks without a licence. In this country you can't buy a gun without a licence and you can't buy hand grenades.

'In essence fireworks can be used as hand grenades, which is what has happened here. It shouldn't be allowed.'

Superintendent Mike Richards, of Gwent Police, said: 'We received a report of a medical emergency in Hengoed Road, Hengoed, at around 2.15pm on Sunday, October 1.

'Two boys, aged eight and nine, remain in hospital receiving treatment for injuries believed to be linked to an explosion of a firework.'