5-year-old Oakhurst boy learning to walk again after Memorial Day power tool accident

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- 5-year-old Zander Wood of Oakhurst has spent the last 25 days in the hospital.

Bandages cover the deep gashes on his hands where electricity jolted his body during an accident.

He's bound to a wheelchair as the other wounds on his body heal and he learns to walk again.

"He's gone through six different surgeries with multiple skin grafts, different layers of skin grafts they have to do," said Karen Wood, Zander's mother.

Zanders accident happened Memorial Day.

His mom Karen was working on a chicken coop as he and his siblings played outside.

Zander's motorized truck wasn't working and he was trying to fix it.

He grabbed his father's power inverter and instantly electricity surged through his body.

"The other brother came running to me and said Zander is dead," she said.

Wood did what she could for her son until paramedics arrived and airlifted the little boy to the hospital.

"I felt like it was an eternity, before 911 got there and I was screaming at her to hurry," she said.

Zander was bedridden for nearly a month as he was treated at Community Regional Medical Center's intensive burn unit.

Wood said some of the worst damage is the mental trauma.

"He is suffering from PTSD now, because of the accident, so we don't know how long that will last if not for the rest of his life," she said.

But Zander has been making strides, Wood said he's slowly learning to walk on his own.

Recently he also celebrated another big milestone, his fifth birthday.

On Friday he was transferred to Valley Children's Hospital where he's started physical therapy.

Wood said her son is resilient and will be back on his feet in no time, chasing after his siblings who he misses dearly.

"He likes to do everything on his own and by himself and I think that attitude will get him through therapy faster," she said.

It's an attitude that will no doubt help him through this and the rest of life's challenges.