An Edinburg mother is sharing her family's story after her son was injured by a firework last year on the Fourth of July at a city event.

"We think we see these things in the news and we say, 'oh my gosh that's terrible that happened, but it will never happen to me,'" Sandra Gonzalez said. "It felt like a nightmare to say the least."

With Fourth of July events scheduled, Sandra hopes they all follow safety protocols.

A celebration in Edinburg during last year's Fourth of July ended with a trip to the hospital. Sandra shared videos of her family at the Texas Cook'Em event.

Sandra says it was her son, Thomas, who was hit by a firework.

"I see my baby and his nose is completely gashed open, I can see him breathing through the hole in his nose," Sandra said. "The impact of the firework that hit him, it made the blood pool in his eyes. So immediately everything went dark for him and all I saw was blood from here down."

That night left Thomas with more than just bad memories.

"It was just not very pleasant to sit there and knowing that I've been scarred for my whole life," Thomas said. "I don't know how to say it, but it was scary to think that it could have been anyone else."

Sandra says they have seen multiple doctors for the injuries.

"We won't be able to see those malformations until he's a little older because he still has a baby nose. But as he gets older, and it starts to refine, you'll be able to see that it  going to be deviated to the side and a little up," Sandra said.

Thomas says it's affected his senses.

"If I try to smell something, I can't smell it and then, my mom makes amazing food and I would love to smell it again but I can't," Thomas said. "There's a lot of things that I've not tried and smell before and I'll not be able to do that again."

Thomas says his scar makes him self-conscious. He says it's is often the first thing that people notice.

"When I finally went back, everyone was like what happened? What happened? How this happened? Can you smell? And it was just like, I don't want to answer any of them," Thomas said.

He's also left with emotional scars. He can no longer watch the celebrations he used to enjoy.

"I used to love fireworks when I was younger and now I'm on edge about them. I'm not a very big fan of them anymore. I don't like watching or seeing them anymore and I just don't want to be lighting them anymore," Thomas said.

The family hopes others stay safe around fireworks this year.

While what happened to them was an accident, they want others to celebrate safely.

"Please rethink your firework display, it's not worth it," Sandra said. "At the expense of other people's safety, is not worth it."

Watch the video above for the full story.