A 15-year-old student has had their hand blown off after picking up a stun grenade being used by police as mass school protests continue across France, local authorities said.
The incident comes as nearly 500 schools are expected to be completely or partially closed following student protests across the country over dilapidated schools and classrooms, overcrowding and teacher shortages preceding a nationwide day of demonstrations on Tuesday.
In the comments, it’s mentioned that the police claim that he picked up the grenade, but there is an investigation into whether that is the case or it was launched at him directly.
Most of the patients I’ve had who became upper limb amputees from explosives had a closed hand around the explosive when it happened. You can hold something like a fire cracker in an open palm and walk away with mild burns. However, if you were holding the same firecracker in a closed fist I would be fitting you with a prosthetic in a few weeks.
Now I’m not sure exactly how much energy a stun grenade goes off with, but usually if the limb is irreparably damaged without also causing other bodily trauma, the patient was probably holding the device when it went off.