It was an ordinary day in Crescent City.
Jason Turner and his girlfriend were taking a stroll on Point St. George Beach, picking up leftover Fourth of July fireworks debris along the way, when they noticed a shiny box with nails sticking out of it.
“He went down to pick it up, and I was like, ‘No,’ and then that was the last thing I remembered,” said Pamala Ganfield, 40.
The firework-like explosive blew up in Turner’s hand, causing injuries so severe he lost his left hand and a major part of his arm.
Ganfield described the ordeal as a scene straight out of a horror movie.
“It looked like something out of a murder scene, the way he was bleeding and the way that his hand was gushing,” she said.
Capt. Kyle Stevens of the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office told the San Francisco Chronicle that the office believed the roughly 6-inch-long object was a homemade firework. Authorities were informed of the explosion around 4 p.m. Sunday, and when they arrived they found Turner in a parking lot.
The Sheriff’s Office did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment from The Times.
The 44-year-old was taken to Sutter Coast Hospital in Crescent City, Stevens told the Chronicle, and is now at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.
In addition to losing his hand, Turner is experiencing vision and hearing loss, and it’s unknown whether his senses will fully return.
Ganfield said she wasn’t hurt and is prioritizing Turner’s recovery.
“When everything calms down and slows down a little bit, I need to get my hearing checked out,” Ganfield said.
The oldest of Turner’s five children, 24-year-old Ashley, has taken on more responsibility to help care for the family as her father recovers.
“It’s just been around-the-clock calls, around-the-clock updates. It just doesn’t stop,” she said.
She added that she’s grateful Ganfield was with her father at the time.
“I just couldn’t imagine being right there and watching that happen, and she saved his life,” she said.
Ganfield said there was a flash, similar to when a grenade goes off in a film.
She went straight into action. She told The Times she remembers screaming and crying and being completely horrified. She also recalls Turner telling her he needed a tourniquet.
“As he was literally saying that, I was ripping my shirt off because the blood was coming — like, just squirting out of his hand, like a bottle or something,” Ganfield said. “It was so crazy.”
Turner’s family members describe him as an extremely hardworking and selfless person.
He is the provider for the family, and has two children in high school and a son studying mechanical engineering at Fresno City College whom he is supporting financially.
Ashley Turner resides in Visalia, where she’s working as a pharmacy technician.
Although she lives on her own now, she recalls a very warm childhood and has fond memories of her dad doing everything in his power to make sure his loved ones were happy. He is the “rock” of the family, she said.
“He didn’t have the money to do stuff, but he made sure we did everything,” she said. “We did all the sports we wanted to. We did all the fun stuff we wanted to. We had all the new stuff we wanted.”
Growing up, she said, the family celebrated the Fourth of July each year and would light fireworks in their yard. Now she’s worried about what the future holds.
“When I have my kids, how is he gonna play with my kids?” she said. “Is he gonna be able to do the father-daughter dance without his arm?”
Jason Turner is a heavy-equipment operator and logger, and his family is unsure if he’ll be able to go back to work.
“He’s been working my whole life,” Ashley Turner said. “I’ve never not seen him doing anything hard, and I don’t know how he’s now not gonna be able to do it.”
One of the most concerning things about the situation is that someone left such an explosive just lying around.
“There’s no need to mess around with an illegal explosive,” Turner said. “There is no need to leave it lying on the beach.”
Ganfield echoed the sentiment.
“I’m not even sure why somebody would leave something like that on the beach for somebody to find,” she said.
Ashley Turner said the doctors had told her family that her father was recovering quickly and, with hope, would get to go home after two more surgeries.
Though Ganfield said she’s grateful his injuries weren’t even more severe, the trauma is enough to last a lifetime.
“The way his hand was open, it literally looked like it split open like a banana,” Ganfield said. “I am extremely thankful that he is here today because it could have been a lot worse.”
