It was the July 4th story that launched a thousand memes–Giants player Jason Pierre-Paul blew off pieces of his right hand playing with fireworks. Ouch! If this isn’t a cautionary tale, kiddies, I don’t know what is.

I digress.

Now the Giant and free agent is pivoting the conversation from his epic fireworks fail to burn victims at the Will Cornell Hearst Burn Center in NYC.

Pierre-Paul reveals walking around–the South Florida burn unit he was treated at–and seeing lost hands and legs from fireworks or other causes. The physical void he and others carried gave him a new perspective on what being a survivor entails.

“The past is the past, you know. But everyday somebody is struggling, doing something, trying to survive.”

The defensive end visited the hospital last week to tour it and meet burn victims. Also hand off a $20,000 donation, along with Care-One Management.

Pierre-Paul also admitted having burns all over his chest as a result of last year’s fireworks incident.

Luckily docs in the South Florida burn unit patched him up enough he could wrap up the 2015 season with the Giants.

Yet loosing an index finger and pieces of two other fingers is a daily reminder.

At least he’s making lemonade out of those not-so-sweet lemons, and for that Pierre-Paul is our Man Candy Monday.