TALLAPOOSA, Ga. — A Georgia man has died after he was injured by fireworks, authorities say. Trevor White died early Sunday after an injury in Tallapoosa.
Haralson County Sheriff Stacy Williams says White and friends gathered late Saturday to shoot fireworks at a home.
State Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John King said the 23-year-old man was holding the launch tube over his head. A shell that fired hit White in the torso and he suffered what officials describe as massive trauma.
First responders compared the trauma to that of a gunshot wound.
White left behind his fiancé and two daughters, who are trying to navigate life without him.
"That was the love of her life, and they had their two beautiful girls together and now she's just lost without him," said White's father-in-law.
Haralson County Coroner Patty Hutcheson says White was taken to a hospital in Bremen where he died early July 4.
A Go Fund Me page has been set up for White's family to cover funeral costs and has raised over $12,000.
Insurance Department spokesperson Weston Burleson says White’s death is the only fireworks-related injury the department investigated over July 4.
RELATED: Medical examiner: Blue Jackets goalie died from chest trauma caused by fireworks mortar blast
Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Matiss Kivlenieks died from chest trauma caused by a mortar blast in a similar fireworks incident. He was just 24.
In a statement released Monday, Columbus Blue Jackets President of Hockey Operations John Davidson described Kivlenieks in part as an "outstanding young man who greeted every day and everyone with a smile."