ORLANDO, Fla. -- Orange County detectives are searching for the person who fired a gun into the air on New Year's Eve. The stray bullet struck a young mother in the head and she lost the use of her right eye.

GET WFTV NEWS HEADLINES BY EMAIL 9 a.m. Headlines Noon Headlines 4 p.m. Headlines News of the Strange Breaking News Alerts

It was supposed to be a night of fun, watching the fireworks in their lakefront yard in Hyland Oaks. But mixed in with those blasts was the sound of a .45-caliber gun.

"By the time I hear the sound of the bullet, my wife already have a bullet in her eye," said Domingo Cintron, the victim's husband.

Ruby Cintron, 26, had her seven-month-old baby Aidan in her arms. Their three-year-old daughter was also outside. Her husband said Ruby’s first thought was to keep them safe, before asking for help for herself.

"Our baby could be dead right now. She said, 'Better my eyes than our baby,'" Domingo said.

The bullet took Ruby's right eye, but the family feels somewhat lucky. Last New Years Eve, 75-year-old Henry McDaniel died after a falling bullet hit him. The shooter was more than two miles away.

"I'm from Puerto Rico. I know it's a tradition over there. It's just a ridiculous tradition because this is not the Wild West, this is a city," Domingo said.

Fighting back tears, Domingo hoped it would serve as a lesson, that falling bullets also cause pain.

"I hope there's gonna be an investigation and they find the person, and that's not gonna help me at all, but probably prevent from next year something like that happening again," he said.

Ruby is at Orlando Regional Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.