Father and daughter help save boy after playing near live wire

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A 10-year-old boy is recovering after a loose wire shocked him in his own back yard Monday.

Luke Wallace's father, Justin, says he's a walking miracle.

"They don't know how it's not worse. They're saying he's very lucky and he's in good shape," Justin Wallace said.

Luke was in their back yard filling up water balloons with a friend when he slipped.

"He looked back and grabbed a wire, then he just fell down," said 11-year old Presley Gardner. "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."

Presley ran home and called her dad and then 911. He rushed home from work about five minutes away, and got there as paramedics pulled 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," Mike Gardner said.

Both families call it divine intervention. He was wearing a pair of insulated boots he hadn't worn in years.

Luke was flown by LifeFlight to Memorial Hermann Hospital. He was alert when they took him. His dad says his worst injury is third-degree burns on the hand that grabbed the wire.

"They're going to skin graft it. He'll be back to running and playing in a few weeks," Justin said.

He said they had no idea the wire was back there. He and the Gardners hope other parents start checking their yards and around their homes.

"A lot of people rent houses and they need to make sure it's safe to live in when they move in. And the owners have to make sure the house is safe," Gardner said. "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."

Justin held 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.

Luke is expected to be in the hospital until early next week.

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