Watch the moment I mistakenly blew myself up on my honeymoon – I just wanted to impress the lady, now I only have one hand – The US Sun

With the sun shining, Levi Stanford and his wife Amy looked out at the picturesque reservoir and shared a quick kiss.

Married just five days earlier, the young newlyweds were still in celebration mode and headed to the local beauty spot with six family members for an afternoon of swimming and relaxing.

But that wasn’t all. Levi, then 23 years old, had something else – something very special – in mind to celebrate her big day and impress Amy, then 24.

“I grew up in the countryside and explosives were part of life, they were used in mining work, as well as in dam construction and demolition work on our farm,” says Levi.

“So I designed a device to create a huge geyser of water to shoot out of the reservoir and into the air.”

Wanting to capture the explosion on camera, Levi asked his brother to start recording while he went down to the shore and lit the fuse on his homemade device. He was supposed to have 60 seconds to throw it into the water before it exploded – but instead, the device immediately exploded, blowing his left hand to pieces.

I looked like a blood-soaked zombie. I thought I was dead – my whole body was covered in shrapnel.

“Somehow, probably because of the shock, I didn’t pass out,” says Levi, from Calgary, Canada.

“I looked like a blood-soaked zombie. I thought I was dead – my whole body was covered in shrapnel. Blood gushed from the wound.

“I was trying to celebrate my wedding – instead I blew myself up. All my clothes had exploded. I destroyed both my eardrums and could only see out of one eye because of a piece of plastic from the explosion. I was in agony.”

I told Amy I was dying and she said I couldn’t leave her. I asked her if she still had my penis.

Levi

It was in July 2015 that Levi made the decision that changed his life forever.

“Amy and I met two years earlier. Amy saw me on stage in a play and liked what she saw. A month later, we were introduced at a community dance.

“We had a big church wedding. It was a week of parties, celebrations and family events,” she explains.

“I wanted to get into demolition work and developed a homemade project to blow things up underwater. I thought it would be a special memory of our honeymoon to try it that day. I wanted to create a larger than life water fountain.

“I didn’t tell Amy about the water exhibit. I wanted it to be a post-wedding surprise.

“Unfortunately, I couldn’t get all the parts I needed because the stores were closed, so I tried to do without them. This meant the device exploded much faster than it should have.”

After the explosion, Levi managed to get away from the shore as his terrified family rushed to his side.

“My memories are vague, but I was told that my wife and family carried me to the middle of a hill covered in gravel and rocks,” he says.

“You would think that after blowing yourself up, your day couldn’t get any worse. This happened. My brother reversed the truck and knocked me over, I was pulled into the back, screaming and writhing.

“I told Amy I was dying and she said I couldn’t leave her. Apparently I asked her if she still had my penis! She laughed through her tears and assured me it was intact.

“The doctors said I got to the local hospital just in time.”

I remembered that feeling as if I were floating, surrounded by an immense white light. I thought to myself, this is it, I’m dying and I’m passing.

Levi Stanford

From there, Levi had to be airlifted to Calgary Hospital for specialized burn treatment.

“I remembered this feeling of floating, surrounded by an immense white light. I thought to myself, this is it, I’m dying and I’m passing.

“I basically decided to let myself go, to what I thought was inevitable. Then I felt a chill and knew I had to fight to live,” he says.

In addition to losing his left hand and part of his forearm, Levi required seven major operations, including skin grafts on his right thigh, the creation of two new eardrums from skin on his head, eye surgery to remove a piece of plastic, and the removing hundreds of pieces of plastic shrapnel that shattered his body.

“I then suffered from compartment syndrome in my chest and arm. This meant that blood pooled and swelled in these parts of the body. The only option was for the surgeons to cut cross lines over me to release the blood and stop me from dying,” he says.

More than a quarter of my body has been harvested for skin grafts. I had to learn to listen again, I lost my forearm and my left hand. I had to learn to walk again.

Levi Stanford

Unconscious for a week, Levi finally regained consciousness – and thought he had died.

“I woke up and all I could remember was the explosion. It didn’t make sense to me that I survived. I was taking so many painkillers that I felt no pain

“I was in the ICU for two weeks. Doctors warned Amy not to get her hopes up even when I woke up, as my lungs had collapsed and my injuries were so extensive.

Levi then faced a grueling seven-month hospital stay due to the severity of his injuries.

“I knew I had been given a second chance at life. I wished myself better. The doctors said I had done so well in rehab that I could leave after just two and a half months,” he says.

I had no one but myself to blame for what happened.

Levi missed work as an arborist for the next 12 months to deal with his life-changing injuries.

“I refused to sit around and feel sorry for myself. I knew I had been given a second chance at life,” he says.

“More than a quarter of my body was harvested for skin grafts. I had to learn to listen again, I lost my forearm and my left hand. I had to learn to walk again because a lot of skin was removed from my thigh, he says.

“I had no one but myself to blame for what happened. Amy was amazing and showed me the meaning of true love.

I love developing adaptations for my prosthetic – now I can barbecue, hotdog, and bake using my hand tools.

Levi Stanford

“We were both so happy that I survived that it meant we didn’t argue about the accident. But Amy struggled initially when I returned home from the hospital. Whenever I started something risky like climbing mountains, riding a bike or even running, she imagined the worst possible outcome.

“During the year I was out of work, local residents raised almost £17,000 or $30,000 CAD to help us through the first year.

“It was a blessing. Money was tight and this allowed me to focus on my recovery.

“I did rehab three times a week. There were two round trips. Sometimes getting out of bed was difficult. Occupational therapy was agony as my body learned to deal with the extensive healing process. Just stretching his arms and legs was painful due to skin grafts, ligament damage and scarring.

I refused to let the explosion stop me from catching up.

Levi Stanford

The pair welcomed son Maximus in July 2018, followed by Grace, now four, in June 2020 and Freya, 19 months, in December 2022.

Meanwhile, Levi, who received a prosthetic left arm, set new goals.

“Having a fake hand or a hook is great. But I like tinkering and building things. I knew I could adapt my prosthetic for a range of tasks.”

True to his word. Levi built a clip-on egg flipper, a hot dog cooker, and a whisk extension that can fit onto the stump of his fake arm.

“I also made a big clap to entertain the children. I also made an attachment for doing push-ups.”

“I love developing adaptations for my prosthetic – now I can barbecue, hotdog and bake using my hand tools. I also have an attachment for holding a microphone, one for playing drums and one for cracking a whip. I like to call myself Captain Hook, although Mr. Gadget or Bionic Man would work too!

“My unusual extensions on my arm make people laugh. I show them how to rethink an injury and find the positive in the negative,” he says.

Levi also had to relearn guitar and piano, building extensions that allowed him to play. Determined to prove his skills, he even appeared on Canada’s Got Talent this year playing the piano.

“I loved appearing on the program. It showed people that you can do anything, even after a near-fatal injury. I made it to the first of three rounds.

Levi – who has not been near explosives since the accident – is now in demand around the world as a motivational speaker, comedian and entertainer.

“I refused to let the explosion stop me from achieving my goals,” he says. “The explosion may have changed my life, but it lit a fuse to help and inspire people around the world. As far as I’m concerned, that made it all worth it.”

And he, of course, says no one should do what he did.

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