WCNC

Shakera Hoyle shows the scar her daughter Tierra, 3, got from a fireworks burn last year.

GASTONIA, N.C. -- In North Carolina last year, 55 people were hurt playing with fireworks, the majority in July. And what happened to a little Gastonia girl goes to show that you can be an innocent bystander this Fourth of July and get hurt, too.

Tierra Lipscomb, 3, and her sister Shaniya spent this July 4 at their grandmother’s house. There are too many bad memories of what happened last year at home.

“They were all playing war, and she was an innocent bystander,” said Tierra’s mother, Shakera Hoyle.

The two girls were sitting on their porch watching neighbors play with fireworks.

“A car pulled up, stopped, the firework went off, and I heard her scream. I picked her up and she had been turned that quick,” said Hoyle.

There is a little hole in Tierra’s shirt from where the firework went through and exploded on her skin.

“The hole in the shirt was so small you wouldn't think she had been hit until you picked her up and heard her scream,” said Hoyle.

“It hurt really bad,” said Tierra Lipscomb.

Hoyle lifted her daughter’s shirt and her skin was gone. She had second-degree and third-degree burns, one on her arm, another on her side.

“I almost passed out. You could smell the fireworks. You could actually smell it, like when someone sets off a firework you can smell it on her shirt, on her skin,” said Hoyle.

After five weeks of treatment, Tierra is doing well, but the scars remain. Remnants of fireworks are scattered on the family’s lawn from people shooting of fireworks in their neighborhood, which is why the family is staying with grandma for the week and not taking any chances.

“I did take extra caution. I had my kids sitting down. No matter how much safety you try and provide for your child, you cannot guarantee they will not be hit. Those things go off and they go in any direction,” said Hoyle.

Hoyle says Tierra is slowly getting over her fear of fireworks. They plan to watch the fireworks, but a big show run by professionals.