6-year-old in coma after mower flings rebar at him during recess, Wisconsin family says

A Wisconsin boy is fighting for his life after an object shot from under a mower hit him during recess, his family said.

The family of Alex Hook, 6, said he was playing outside Riverview Elementary School in Silver Lake on Friday when rebar hit him, WISN reported.

“My sister proceeded to where he was and found her son lying on his back with blood coming out of his head, and he was not conscious but he was having basically seizures,” Alex’s aunt and godmother, Michelle Koertgen, told the news outlet.

The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department said the lawnmower was operating in a grassy median near the school, the Kenosha News reported. A sheriff’s spokesperson said “while this was a tragic incident, it was ruled an accident,” WISN reported.

“Imagine how shocking this is that at recess where kids are supposed to be having a wonderful time this awful tragedy occurred,” Koertgen told TMJ.

She said Alex underwent brain surgery at Children’s Wisconsin Milwaukee Hospital because he had a piece of metal lodged in the left side of his brain, TMJ reported, and he was put into a medically-induced coma.

On Sunday, Alex was in “critical but stable” condition, Kenosha News reported.

“It’s highly likely according to the neurosurgeon that he will have sustained brain damage,” Koertgen told TMJ. “What my family needs is prayers, keep the prayers coming.”

Silver Lake is about 20 miles west of Kenosha.

This story was originally published September 13, 2021 at 11:56 AM with the headline "6-year-old in coma after mower flings rebar at him during recess, Wisconsin family says."