A DISTRAUGHT mom said her teenage son was almost killed when his religious cross electrocuted him in a freak accident – scorching the necklace into his flesh.
Danielle Davis went to bed as usual on the night of April 30 when a piercing scream awoke her from her son’s bedroom next door.
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The mom-of-six went to investigate when her son, Rayce Ogdahl, appeared in the hallway covered in scorched burns across his neck.
The 16-year-old told his mom that his own necklace had electrocuted him after the chain came into contact with an exposed prong of a plug.
Shocking photos show Ogdahl’s neck and collarbone charred black with the imprint of his chain seared onto his red, raw skin.
After ripping the chain from his neck, the cross and necklace left a burning three-inch hole in Ogdahl’s mattress.
The teen was rushed to Integris Health Baptist Medical Center’s burns unit in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where he was admitted to the intensive care unit to help treat his injuries.
‘NORMAL NIGHT’
Davis, 38, who lives in Yukon, feels lucky she did not lose her son that night – and is urging others to remain vigilant of electrical cords, wires, and plugs.
“It was a normal night, and we’d only been asleep for around an hour when we half heard a noise, then heard yelling from Rayce’s room,” she said.
“We thought maybe he’s playing a video game and getting frustrated.
“Then I heard him shout, ‘Mom,’ and my son was standing in the hallway.
“He said, ‘I’ve been electrocuted. It was my necklace’. There were scorch necks around his neck.”
“And the smell was awful. The whole house smelled like burnt hair and skin and electrical burns. We started calling 911 for an ambulance.
“He explained to us that he was in bed, rolled over to get comfortable when he heard something fall off the bed,” she recalled.
“He said he wanted to make sure his phone was still charging so his alarm would go off for school the next day.
“He said he leaned out of the bed, and when he did, the cross necklace around his neck made contact with the prongs from the plug in an extension cord, which were just barely exposed.
When it comes to your phone, there’s not a text message or notification that is important enough to have your phone on your bed. Anything can happen, and Rayce is proof of that.
Danielle Davis
“He said he was completely conscious through the whole thing and was aware he was being electrocuted. Because everything was metal, it made a complete circuit around his neck. It was like a hot coil.”
The mom continued, “And he has burns on his hands from trying to rip his chain around his neck. It was a thick, heavy chain.
“The crazy thing was, during the electrocution, it welded part of his chain to the charger. And the cross pendant on the chain melted three inches into the mattress through the sheets of his bed.
“He said this all happened within a matter of seconds, and he visibly saw sparks coming from his neck. He told me his whole body hurt, and he thought he was going to die.”
FREAK ACCIDENT
Ogdahl was rushed to the hospital after the incident, where doctors told the family he had endured “enough amps to kill him” – they monitored the function of his heart over the next few days.
The teen had suffered from second, third, and fourth-degree burns and will be left scarred for life from the freak accident.
Davis, a stay-at-home mom, said, “You can see the pattern of the necklace on his neck. It’s left a significant mark.
“He’s got a lot of scars. They’re speaking about doing a skin graft but Rayce doesn’t want that unless it’s medically necessary.
He was completely conscious through the whole thing and was aware he was being electrocuted. Because everything was metal, it made a complete circuit around his neck.
Danielle Davis
“It’s almost his entire neck that’s covered in scars. It’s from his chin to his collarbone. The incident has definitely made Rayce a lot more self-aware. It was very eye-opening.
“We’re just so grateful he’s okay. He could’ve easily died that night. It was amazing he was still conscious and could still alert us. It would’ve been a different story.”
“When it comes to your phone, there’s not a text message or notification that is important enough to have your phone on your bed. Anything can happen, and Rayce is proof of that,” she added.
“Pay attention to your cords, and I would recommend to anybody don’t use extension cords at all.”
Unplugged cords can cause serious harm, especially when exposed to wet surfaces or metals.
Never leave an unplugged power cord exposed in the open if you have young children living in your home.
One safety approach parents can take to prevent harm from unplugged power cords is to purchase prong power plug caps.
The safety caps can be purchased online on Amazon or in-store at locations such as Ace Hardware, Home Depot, or Lowe’s.
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