Just last week, eight-year-old Blake Draeger of rural Edgar was riding his dirt bike on a family farm just outside of Wausau. Even though there was not a cloud in the sky, he was struck by lightning.
His father, Chris Draeger, says he looked up and saw his son lying on the ground. The boy was hot to the touch and Draeger quickly picked him up, put his son in his truck, and sped off for the hospital. He says it was few minutes before they even got any sound of Blake, which he describes as “like hearing him cry for the first time.”
AUDIO: Chris Draeger (:11)
The lightning ruptured Blake’s eardrums and put second degree burns over 15 percent of his body. He’s currently being treated at UW hospital’s burn unit in Madison and is expected to make a full recovery, with no permanent damage.
Contributed by WIBA
