Boy Who Survived Lightning Strike That Killed Dad Now Breathing on His Own: 'Proved Everyone Wrong'
"We’re hopeful for full, total body healing," the boy's grandmother told local outlet KWTX
The family of 6-year-old Grayson Boggs is asking people to "pray for peace and comfort" now that the boy has started to breathe on his own — weeks after he and his father were struck by lightning in May.
Boggs was removed from a ventilator on Tuesday afternoon, after he was was seriously injured by a Texas lightning strike that killed his father, Matthew Boggs, 34.
"He has proved everyone wrong and is still holding on, he is breathing on his own and so far has been able to protect his airway," an update on Boggs' GoFundMe page read. "Since he continued to breathe for over 90 minutes, he is no longer a donor candidate. He has not had any ‘neuro storming’ episodes which the doctors said he would."
"This has been an emotional roller coaster for the family, as I am sure you can imagine. Please continue to pray for peace and comfort, and that God shows us his plan soon."
The tragedy took place when Boggs and his father were walking down their driveway "when lightning came out of the sky without warning," per the fundraiser. The boy was holding his father's hand when the bolt struck, per an obituary for Matthew.
Matthew's mother Angela Boggs told CBS affiliate KWTX that in their final moment together, Matthew told his son, "I love you, buddy." The father and son "were not responsive" by the time first responders arrived at the scene, per a statement from Sheriff Trace Hendricks of the Bosque County Sheriff's Office Facebook page. Matthew was found "unresponsive, but breathing" and his father was pronounced dead at the scene.
“It’s god’s will. It’s up to God what happens from here on. We’re still hopeful. We’re hopeful for full, total body healing,” Angela Boggs, the boy’s grandmother, now told KWTX.
Since his father's death, Matthew has been staying at the Baylor Scott & White McLane Children’s Medical Center in Temple, as his grandmother explained that he's suffered brain damage, with doctors telling the family that he's unlikely to survive.
“We don’t want Grayson in the condition he’s in now. That would be a horrible existence, especially, for a 6 year old. If he goes, we hope he passes peacefully,” his aunt Rhonda Lawrence told KWTX.
“The doctors predicted that he wouldn’t have, maybe an hour, after they took off the vent, but here’s it’s been 24. So who knows,” Lawrence added.
As Boggs explained, the family is dealing with "some frustration and some heartache," but there's still "hope until he takes his last breath."
The organizer of the fundraising page, cousin Stephanie Burris, previously shared that Grayson had multiple seizures after the incident and was placed on the ventilator to help him breathe. An MRI found damage to Grayson's frontal lobe and optic nerve.
"The doctor was asked today if Grayson would wake up, and her answer was, 'I don't know.' She said we have to wait until we can reduce the sedating medications he is on, to see if he will wake up," the family member previously wrote.
"At this time there are a lot of unknowns with how Grayson will recover," the organizer wrote. "But the family is keeping their faith that God is working to heal our sweet boy."
Matthew was remembered as a "faithful member of the Bosque County Cowboy Church" who "loved watching wrestling and being with his family," according to his obituary.
The GoFundMe campaign for Grayson has reached more than $80,000 of its current $100,000 goal, as of Thursday.
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