A Texas family is struggling to cope after a shocking tragedy killed a 34-year-old father and left his 6-year-old son fighting for his life. According to local reports, Matthew Boggs and his son Grayson were both struck by lightning on Monday while walking home hand-in-hand from a school bus stop.
Sadly, Matthew didn't make it, but there is still hope for Grayson, who is now in a coma.
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The freak accident reportedly happened out of nowhere
Matthew's mother, Angela Boggs, told reporters that part of her son's daily routine was picking his own two sons up from their bus stop, which is located near their home in Valley Mills, Texas. In fact, sometimes the young father even heads to the bus stop early just because it was his favorite part of the day.
"He would just sit there and wait on his kids," Angela said, according to Fox Weather. "He was a good, loving father. He loved his kids. His kids were everything to him."
But on Monday evening, the dad's sweet daily ritual quickly turned to tragedy
It happened around 5 p.m., shortly after Grayson and his older brother Elijah, 11, hopped off the bus.
As Grayson and his dad strolled hand-in-hand back to the house, Elijah ran ahead of them. The family of three started walking up their driveway — Elijah going to the left while Matthew and Grayson veered to the right.
By the time thunder started rumbling in the sky, Elijah had reached the front porch, but his dad and brother were still lagging behind. That's when a sudden bolt of lightning rained down from the sky, knocking the two to the ground.
"Matthew was holding [Grayson’s] hand," Angela later recalled of the moments leading up to the tragedy. "He just got done telling Grayson, ‘I love you, buddy,’ and that's when the lightning hit."
The sight was absolutely terrifying for the 11-year-old
Not only did the force of lightning reportedly knock the shoes off the father and son, but both were knocked to the pavement face-first.
"I was really scared," Elijah later told KWTX. "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."
But he wasn't alone — his grandmother, Angela, had been mowing the lawn at the time of the accident, and immediately ran over to help. So did many neighbors, who rushed over and dialed 911.
Paramedics arrived quickly, but there was little they could do
Matthew was pronounced dead at the scene, right in front of his mother and son.
As for Grayson, though, he did show signs of life after multiple CPR attempts were made and was rushed to the McClane Children’s Hospital Baylor Scott and White for treatment.
Though he is currently unresponsive and in a coma, doctors say he is fine from the neck down, but it will take days to assess whether the 6-year-old suffered any brain damage.
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In the meantime, his family can only wait — and pray — for his recovery
"We're holding onto our faith and holding together," Angela said. "We've got a big, strong church family that is with us and never has left us since that's happened."
The community has also come together to form a GoFundMe page for the family, which has raised over $30,000 toward funeral expenses so far.
As for little Grayson, his grandma remains confident that the little boy will pull through, thanks to his strong fighting spirit.
"He’s a rambunctious little boy," Angela told reporters. "He is always, always on the move playing."
