18 June 2023 , 08:54
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A six-year-old boy has tragically died a month after he was struck by lightning while walking home from school with his dad and brother.
Grayson Boggs was being picked up from the school bus by his father Matthew on May 15 when the freak accident happened.
Grayson was holding his dad's hand in the small central Texas town of Valley Mills when lightning struck.
They were walking down the driveway after getting off the bus "when lightning came out of the sky without warning", a GoFundMe read.
Matthew died instantly, while Grayson remained in hospital in a critical condition with brain damage for over a month before he died on Friday.
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The pair were also with Grayson's 11-year-old brother Elijah, who survived.
Grayson Boggs with Dad Matthew and brother Elijah (Facebook/)Reports say the force of the strike knocked the shoes off both of them as they landed face down on the pavement.
Elijah has recalled the harrowing moment his father died in front of his eyes.
He told local media: "I was really scared. I rolled Grayson over and he was kind of smiling a little bit. I thought they were just joking, but when I rolled my dad over the middle of his head was bleeding and his face was already purple."
The boys' aunt wrote in a Facebook tribute: "Words can't describe this. You fought so hard through it all, now you'll be able to rest my handsome funny little baby nephew."
A statement on Bosque County Sheriff's Trace Hendricks Office Facebook page said Matthew and Grayson "were not responsive" by the time first responders arrived at the scene.
Grayson was found "unresponsive, but breathing" and was transported to a local hospital, while Matthew was pronounced dead.
Grayson and Elijah in an undated photo (GoFundMe)Angela Boggs, Matthew's mother, told KWTX News that in their final moment together, Matthew told his son, "I love you, buddy."
She said: "He just got done telling Grayson. That's when the lightning came down."
According to the National Lightning Safety Council, the US averages five lightning fatalities through June 15 based on the past 10 years.
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From 2006 until 2021, only five states (Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Washington) and the US Virgin Islands have reported no lightning deaths.
Texas was the second-highest number of deaths over that period, with 36 people killed. Florida took the first spot with 79 deaths.