An Eau Claire man is recovering at a burn center after a firework blasts off part of his foot. Darren La Page says it's taking a lot of painkillers for him to be comfortable, but he says most importantly he's happy to be alive.

Darren says when the firework exploded the pain was so excruciating he struggled to stay conscious.

"I also have all of these,” Darren says showing us his burned legs.

The scars remain, but it's the pain that Darren remembers.

"I could see cuts up and down my legs, from where they had been sprayed. There was gunpowder all over my leg and it was bleeding everywhere," Darren says.

He says he and his cousin headed out on a canoe trip on O’Neil Creek in Chippewa Falls Saturday night. He says the plan was to launch two fireworks from shore.

"The next thing I knew he said 'cover your ears' and I turned around and he was lighting the fireworks. I was more or less in shock and the pain started right away. I pulled my foot up and it was split and the canoe was split. I could see my heel was gone," Darren says.

Darren's girlfriend rushed him to Luther Hospital in Eau Claire where doctors starting putting his foot back together. The next day, his parents brought him to the Hennepin County Medical Center where doctors say he's lucky to be alive.

"He’s very lucky something worse didn't happen and that his clothes didn't catch fire," says Dr. George Peltier, the burn center director at HCMC.

Dr. Peltier says one major concern was infection because Darren’s first instinct was to put his foot into the creek. Doctors in Eau Claire also had to pull parts of Darren’s melted flip flop out of his foot.

"I'm expecting him to have pretty close to a full recovery," Dr. Peltier says.

Darren says he can't wait to get back outside, back on his feet and back on the water.

"No fireworks this time!” he says.

Darren's advice when it comes to fireworks—stay away. But, good news, his doctor says he could come home Friday. But, Darren will be off his feet for at least a couple weeks until his foot is strong enough to be stitched back together.