A 26-year-old Michigan man met an untimely demise when a baby shower turned fatal. The backyard party came to a tragic end after the gender reveal went horribly wrong, resulting in the man’s death. Now, his story is serving as a warning for others who might be considering such a stunt.
Evan Thomas Silva, a 26-year-old Hartland, Michigan man, was attending a baby shower in Gaines Township on a Saturday evening when the small, backyard party took a terrifying turn. Silva and a handful of other party-goers were standing outside when the homeowner fired a small cannon-type device in the backyard to celebrate the baby’s pending arrival.
Sadly, things didn’t go as planned. The small cannon, which was fired in the backyard as part of the gender reveal at the party attended by a small number of family members, malfunctioned. It unexpectedly exploded, sending shrapnel flying. Three parked cars and the garage where the baby shower was being held were struck by shrapnel, MLive reported. But, that was far from the worst of it.
Evan Silva, who was standing just 10 to 15 feet away from the cannon when it malfunctioned and sprayed shrapnel, was hit too. After being struck by the metal shrapnel, Silva was rushed to Hurley Medical Center in Flint in serious condition. Unfortunately, the explosion proved fatal, and Silva died at the hospital from his injuries caused by the cannon.
According to the police, the cannon, which was designed to work as a novelty signal cannon and intended to emit a big flash, loud noise, and smoke, was test-fired prior to the event, Metro reported.
“The homeowner had purchased the cannon at an auction prior to the event and had fired the cannon several times prior,” authorities explained in a statement.
Those precautions proved futile, however, when the device blew up. The suspected cause of the explosion was gun powder loaded into the device that caused the cannon to fracture, allowing space for shrapnel to spread, investigators explained, according to Click-On Detroit. Sadly, the end result was the untimely death of an innocent man.
“We lost Evan Silva to a sudden fatal accident,” a GoFundMe page, set up to cover funeral costs in the wake of Silva’s death, explained. “He left behind many family members and friends who greatly miss him and are grieving. We are asking for donations to help support Evans [sic] family with funeral arrangements. Thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated as well.”
Although Silva’s death is tragic, it could have been worse. According to police, the victim was one of five people who were outside the residence when the cannon was fired, but he was the only one to be hit by the shrapnel. While we are thankful that no one else was harmed, it’s absolutely tragic to see such an unnecessary death, especially when people should know better. Just look at how far some people take these parties:
Unfortunately, as you can see in the clip above, this tragedy isn’t a first of its kind. “In recent years, some gender-reveal events – where devices eject confetti, balloons or other colored objects to announce a soon-to-be-born child’s sex – have taken a dangerous turn,” Daily Mail reported, pointing out that a wildfire that burned thousands of acres in Southern California in September 2020 was sparked by such an event.
During that ordeal, an expectant couple in Yucaipa planned to reveal their baby’s gender with blue or pink smoke. Instead, their fireworks caused a fire that scorched more than 21,000 acres in the Yucaipa area. And, again, this wasn’t the first time such a stunt went horribly wrong. A similar incident also occurred in Arizona in 2017, which led to the so-called Sawmill wildfire. Footage of it can be seen below:
In 2019, a homemade explosive device that was meant to spray colored powder to reveal a baby’s gender killed a woman in Knoxville, Iowa. Instead of spraying the powder, the device blew up like a pipe bomb, killing 56-year-old Pamela Kreimeyer. Sadly, even with stories like these, this popular, yet dangerous trend for expectant parents continues.
The lesson to be learned here is that pyrotechnics should be left up to the professionals. No one wants their celebratory occasion to be forever remembered as a tragic event that took an innocent life. There are safer ways for expectant couples to reveal their unborn child’s gender. In the words of Jenna Karvunidis, a blogger credited with starting the trend of gender reveals by using a cake: “Stop it. Stop having these stupid parties. For the love of God, stop burning things down to tell everyone about your kid’s penis. No one cares but you.”
