The incident occurred last Sunday when a group of Blackpool supporters had gathered to celebrate the teams 1-0 win over Bristol Rovers.

During the celebrations, Paul Markham, noticed a device rolling on the ground toward a group of children and quickly identified it as an ‘airbomb’ firework.

Making a split-second decision to prevent serious injury to the children, the 50-year-old picked up the firework and attempted to get rid of it in a safe place when it suddenly went off in his hands.

As a result, the roofer has lost most of his right thumb and significantly damaged two fingers as well, with doctors still not yet able to make a call on how these injuries will impact the tradesman’s future ability to return to to work.

Speaking to the Blackpool Gazette, the roofer recounted what he could remember about the moment he potentially saved the lives of the children involved, saying “It was the first time in months I had been near the home of the club I’ve loved all my life, a chance to see my mates there for first time in ages and I had my back to the main stand as we were celebrating after the match.”

“Out of the corner of my eye I could see this device rolling along the path and I knew right away it was airbomb.”

“There were groups of kids all over and there was a group no more than 10 feet away to which I could see it was heading.

“I used to organise fireworks display at Anchorsholme years ago and I know the difference between a flare and an airbomb. I knew I had to do something to try and get it away with the first thought of kicking it away but then decided it would be better to pick it up and get it to a safe spot.”

“I’ve never had any children myself but I’ve always been very protective of mates’ children on football trips and think it’s really important to look after them.”

“It was a split-second decision and next thing I knew it had gone off. From then, everything went into slow motion and it seemed so surreal.”

Paul was rushed to Blackpool Victoria Hospital and then transferred to Royal Preston Hospital.

The roofer is being hailed a hero by his tight-knit community and a fund-raising campaign has been set up to help with his recovery, receiving more than £9,000 in donations at the time of writing.

As reported by the Blackpool Gazette, the roofer said “I’m so grateful for all the kind messages and the donations to the fund-raising on my behalf and can’t thank all the staff on ward 4 of the Royal Preston enough for what they have done for me,” said Paul, known to his mates as ‘Speedy’.

“But I’m also so grateful I was there at the time to stop that airbomb reaching those kids because I dread to think what the outcome would have been then."

The Just Giving site set up to help Paul is set to remain open throughout this month and donations can be made via www.justgiving/com/crowed-funding/jason-latham

(H/T Blackpool Gazette)

Feature Image Credit Blackpool Gazette