It’s too soon to know whether the fireworks accident that cost Buccaneers cornerback C.J. Wilson two fingers will cost him his football career.
But his father said his son has something far more valuable than that.
“I’m sure it’s in the back of his mind,” Curtis Wilson, Sr., told WBTV. “For me that really doesn’t matter. My son is alive so God took care of him as far as that. I guess we’ll cross that bridge later on down the road.”
Wilson lost his index and middle fingers on one hand when fireworks exploded in a canister he was holding.
His father wasn’t on the scene when it happened, but said C.J. “was pretty much holding the canister – not trying to hold the fireworks – but the canister that it was supposed to pop out of, . . . well it didn’t pop. It exploded inside the canister.”
One of the dangers of consumer-grade fireworks is that the mortar tubes that are often bought in stores wear out in time and after repeated explosions, which can allow the force of the shells inside to go out to the side rather than up.
But Wilson’s father said his son was in good spirits, despite going through two surgeries already.
“C.J. is doing great. He has a lot of family and friends around him, lots of people coming to send up their prayers. He’s doing good right now,” his father said. “He’s on pain killers. A little bit of pain medicine has him down a little bit but when that wears off - he’s the same old C.J. joking and kidding. . . .
“My son is still living. We just have to take it one day at a time.”
That’s the best news for Wilson and his family, as they process the unknown before them.