HOUSTON (KTRK/CNN) – A 10-year-old from Texas is recovering from third-degree burns he sustained when he was shocked by a live wire in his own backyard.
Luke Wallace, 10, was filling water balloons with a friend Monday in his backyard when he got a shock which could have ended his life.
"He looked back and grabbed a wire. Then he just fell down. I was thinking, ‘Did he get electrocuted?’ And then I started calling his name a few times, and that's when I grabbed the phone because he wasn't answering,” said Luke’s friend, Presley Gardner.
Presley ran home and called her dad, Mike Gardner, then 911.
Gardner rushed home from work and arrived as paramedics were pulling up. It had been nearly 10 minutes, and Luke still had the live wire in his hand.
"So, I ran up and kicked the line out of his hands, so the paramedics could pick him up and do what they needed to do to make sure he was safe,” Gardner said.
Both families call it divine intervention. Gardner was wearing a pair of insulated boots he hadn’t worn in years.
Luke was flown by LifeFlight to the hospital. He was alert when they took him. His dad, Justin Wallace, says Luke’s worst injury is third degree burns on his hand.
"They don't know how it's not worse. They're saying he's very lucky, and he's in good shape,” Wallace said.
The father choked back tears, saying Luke had angels over him and with him in the flesh – Mike and Presley Gardner.
"They were the angels, and they deserve every bit of praise that I can give them,” he said.
Wallace says the family had no idea the wire was back there. He and the Gardners hope other parents start checking their yards.
"I just want to make sure everybody is aware this kind of thing does happen, and it can be prevented with the right people involved,” Gardner said.
Copyright 2017 KTRK, Wallace Family via CNN. All rights reserved.
