Boy, 9, Who Survived 16,000-Volt Jolt Loses Limbs, but Not Smile

A month ago, Irene Dutcher wasn’t sure her son Ryan would live, let alone be able to walk. Doctors at a Santa Barbara hospital told Dutcher it was unlikely her 9-year-old boy would survive the 16,000-volt shock he received after touching a transformer box at a power substation near Santa Barbara.

But on Saturday morning, after a month’s stay at the Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital, where doctors had to amputate his left leg and arm, Ryan headed back to Santa Barbara with a bag full of lollipops on his lap and a smile on his face.

“This is a day that a month ago we didn’t think was going to happen,” Dutcher said as nurses prepped Ryan for his departure.

“The first week was horrible because he was in critical condition and his muscles and nerves kept dying” in his arm and leg, Dutcher said. “It was really hard to see.”

Ryan’s survival and quick recovery is rare, said A. Richard Grossman, director and founder of the burn center. Few people survive an electrical shock of such high voltage, he said. In many cases, the victim’s heart stops and they do not receive CPR in time to be revived.

Ryan, luckily, was conscious and crying immediately after the accident. His wails alarmed neighbors, who called 911.

Ryan’s parents believe curiosity prompted the young boy to somehow get past a nine-foot-high chain-link fence topped by barbed wire at the Southern California Edison Co. substation in Goleta last month. Once inside, he got onto a wooden ladder, then climbed onto a metal switch box and touched the line, sending 16,000 volts coursing through his small body, from his left hand through his left foot.

The voltage in the line is about 45 times the typical household current, Edison officials said.

“Electrocution injuries are like high-velocity gunshot wounds,” Grossman explained. There is “a very small entrance and a huge exit.”

The shock caused second- and third-degree burns and destroyed nerves, muscles and arteries on the left side of Ryan’s body.

“A week before [the accident], we rode our bikes to the beach and he was leaping off these dirt mounds with his bike,” said Ryan’s father, Jack Wilson of Goleta. “I just couldn’t imagine losing him.”

The night of the accident, hospital officials airlifted Ryan to the Grossman Burn Center. Over the next several weeks, he underwent nine intensive operations that involved skin grafts to cover the burned areas and amputations of parts of his arm and leg.

“Nine operations in 30 days is pretty hard even for an adult to handle, so he’s done an extraordinarily great job of being brave,” Grossman said.

Grossman said the boy will wear prosthetics on his leg and arm and will receive regular physical therapy to learn how to walk and use his muscles to operate the attachments. He projected that Ryan, who loves playing sports and video games, will be able to walk, kick a ball and even run in a few months.

Ryan had little to say Saturday morning about his release or his monthlong stay at the Sherman Oaks hospital. The remainder of his left leg was in a cast covered with notes and signatures of friends, family and hospital staff. His arm, which was amputated to the elbow, was nearly hidden under the sleeve of his tie-dyed T-shirt. Small pink scars from skin grafts marked parts of his right leg.

The shy youngster had become somewhat of a celebrity at the hospital, earning a visit from hockey great Wayne Gretzky and a phone call from Dodgers Manager Tommy Lasorda. His fourth-grade teacher also made weekly visits to bring him videotapes of his classmates performing puppet shows and other activities to help lift his spirits.

Ryan’s parents said that, for the most part, the youngster has handled his accident and the loss of his limbs with an open mind.

“We were watching ‘Jurassic Park,’ ” his father said, “and he saw a sign in the movie saying, ‘Danger: 10,000 volts.’ And he said, ‘That’s nothing. I got 16,000.’ ”