Faulty firework 'turns air blue' after gender reveal goes painfully wrong

A joyful gender reveal celebration in Leeds ended in a painful twist after a faulty firework exploded unexpectedly - burning a father's forearm and cutting the memorable moment painfully short.

- by James Connolly

Daniel Moore, 41, had planned a backyard gender reveal for his partner Sophie, 40, with close friends at their home in Headingley.

But he had ordered a gender reveal firework from a cheap, unbranded website he found online, hoping for a fun moment to mark the occasion.

After lighting the firework in the garden, nothing happened. Thinking it had failed, Daniel cautiously stepped closer to check it.

Suddenly, to his surprise, it ignited at ground level, sending a blast of heat and sparks up his bare forearm. He had been wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt at the time.

"We still found out the gender," he said, "just not how we planned! I waited a bit and figured it had fizzled out.