8-Year-Old Electrocuted by Phone Charger in His Bed: ‘I Almost Thought I Was Going to Die’

An 8-year-old boy is recovering after a terrifying electrical accident in his own bed that doctors say could have been fatal.

Lorenzo Lopez was asleep with a phone on his bed, loosely plugged into an extension cord that was connected to a nearby outlet. At some point in the night, he rolled over, and his chain necklace slipped into the small gap between the extension cord and the charger — triggering a powerful shock, his mother, Kourtney Pendleton, told KWCH.

Lorenzo said he felt intense heat on his neck and tried to scream, but couldn’t call out while he was being electrocuted. Eventually, he managed to rip the chain off and then ran to get help.

He remembers parts of what happened and described the moment as “scary.” “It was chaos,” he told KWCH. “I almost thought I was going to die.”

Pendleton said a hospital staff member later told her that, “Had he not pulled that chain off, he would have been electrocuted to death,” according to KWCH. She believes her son “basically saved his own life.” Lorenzo agreed, saying, “I guess I saved myself, and I’m happy about that.”

He was rushed to the hospital, where he underwent a skin graft and is expected to stay for about two weeks, according to a GoFundMe page created by Pendleton.

“Lorenzo made it through his skin graft surgery, and while he’s in a lot of pain right now, he’s fighting through every moment with so much courage,” Pendleton wrote on Nov. 27. “This has been such a heavy and emotional journey, but he’s holding on with a strength that inspires all of us.”

Despite everything, Lorenzo says he’s been trying to stay positive during his hospital stay. “They’ve been treating me nice, I just like being nice to talk to and having fun,” he told KWCH.

As of Monday, Dec. 1, Lorenzo is still hospitalized, Pendleton shared in a Facebook update. She also used the post to warn other families about the dangers of electronics in bed.

“Renzo wants his story shared to hopefully save another kiddo, so take renzos story as awareness to never ever let your babies sleep with electronics please,” she wrote.