Wilber teen miraculously survives being electrocuted

It happened in a matter of seconds, a game of hide and go seek turned near deadly for 16-year-old Zander Baker of Wilber.

WILBER, Neb. (KLKN) —It happened in a matter of seconds, a game of hide and go seek turned near deadly for 16-year-old Zander Baker of Wilber.

He thought he had the perfect hiding spot, not realizing it was a power pole. Zander would be left with chunks of his skin completely missing, his initial injuries so severe, we can’t show them.

His parents say 4,000 watts of electricity entered his back and exited his leg. His mom and dad arriving on scene before the paramedics, fully believing their son was dead.

“We just saw his leg hanging off the platform and I thought he was dead and I’m pretty sure Kerry did too,” Brian Baker, Zander’s dad said.

“I didn’t even see a leg at first. I thought ‘oh my god, he’s just laying there dead’ like, I’m probably going to get him like what do we do?” Kerry Baker recalled.

His parents say there was a feeling of relief when his leg finally moved but then shrieking in pain, Zander was in and out of consciousness. He was rushed to the hospital and then flown to chi in Lincoln where they began cleaning his wounds.

“I didn’t know the full factor about how like, how actually lucky it was. Because, there’s so much more that could have went into the electricity, killing me, or basically roasting me,” Zander said.

His parents calling it a miracle that Zander wasn’t killed in the accident but in the hours after, still a flood of emotions as they worried.

He’s gone through weeks of physical therapy and multiple surgeries to clean and re-dress his burns. His road to recovery will be a long one with the extent of damage left behind, but Zander says he’s working everyday to get home and get back to a sense of normalcy.