Dad speaks about son's injuries

DESTIN — There is a decision that will haunt Andre Toce forever.

“Can I light one more for mommy?” Toce’s 8-year-old son, Gianni, asked.

“I just melted,” Toce said, allowing his son to light the last firework in a package of eight.

The boy’s mother, Danna Toce, passed away from an aggressive form of cancer several years ago and the family was lighting fireworks in memory of her on Mother’s Day.

The fireworks were purchased at a store on Interstate 10 in Alabama, Toce said. The one that injured Gianni was about 4 inches long and should have launched from a 14-inch tube. According to Toce, the firework malfunctioned and instead of soaring about 150 feet into the air, it exploded on the ground in the tube.

“It just blew up,” Toce said. “It threw him 10 feet in the air.”

The cardboard launching tube and plastic base became shrapnel, striking the child.

The force deformed Gianni’s windpipe, collapsed one lung and caused massive internal hemorrhaging, his father said. Toce added Gianni has devastating eye injuries and facial fractures. He’s heavily sedated and on a ventilator at Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital in Pensacola.

Toce said he and the family took precautions and were using the fireworks safely. The fireworks were placed flat on the ground and everyone moved away after they had been lit.

That doesn't change the fact shooting off personal fireworks isn't allowed in Florida. According to state law, if it leaves the ground or explodes, it's illegal.

Toce said he’ll cooperate fully with any investigations the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, fire department or the Department of Children and Family want to pursue. However, right now, his focus is on Gianni and helping him get the best care possible. He has asked law enforcement to be respectful of Gianni’s 7 brothers and sisters.

Gianni is being taken to Miami where he’ll be seen by a team of eye and facial reconstruction experts at Bascom Palmer at University of Miami Children’s Hospital, Toce said.

After the Destin Elementary School student is in a more stable condition, his father hopes to investigate the Chinese manufacturer of the firework that he says malfunctioned. Toce has asked the Sheriff’s Office to preserve evidence collected from the accident scene so it can be tested.

Gianni is being cared for by the best doctors his father can find, and Toce said the family doesn’t really need any sort of donations. However, if community members would like to make a donation in Gianni’s honor, they may contribute to the Toce Family Foundation, a 501(c) charity.

Those donations will be combined with a gift from Toce to provide medical equipment and services for other children whose parents don’t have the resources to secure the same medical treatment Toce is lucky enough to be able to provide his own son.

Community members who’d like to make a contribution to this effort may call Julie Carloss at (337) 233-6818. Toce said support from Gianni’s friends, teammates, school and other community members has been tremendous.

“We weren’t doing anything other parents don’t do,” Toce said. “You never expect this.”