So far, the Youtz School fourth-grader has lost both thumbs and may lose his left index finger as well as other parts of his fingers, said his mother, Melissa Gammell.

The boy's body caught fire March 7 when 23,000 volts of electricity streamed through him after he crawled through a hole in an American Electric Power Co. substation fence and onto a transformer box. The substation is about a block from his home.

Quick-thinking neighbors ran to him with blankets while one scaled a chain-link fence, topped with a razor wire, to put out the flames. Larez, 10, has been in Akron Children's Hospital since then.

The hospital said he remained in critical condition Friday as adults he's never met planned fundraisers, classmates made him “get well” cards and school administrators set up a bank account to help his family with the mounting medical bills.

James Alexander, the child's father, said Larez is normally an active boy who enjoys all types of sports, riding his bicycle and playing video games.

Gammell had been headed to the grocery store the day her son was playing near the substation with his two younger brothers. Their sister, 15-year-old Brikell Vance, called Gammell with the frightening news.

“He was walking around talking at the scene, asking his sister to tell him he was dreaming. He said, ‘Sissy, is this a dream?' ” Gammell recalled. He also didn't want his sister to leave his side, so paramedics let her ride with him in the ambulance to Aultman Hospital.

When he first arrived at the Akron hospital in a medical helicopter from Aultman, doctors “couldn't find his pulse in his hand or lower wrists. They now can find his pulse (there),” Gammell said, explaining how she knows her son is getting better.

She is concerned, however, that other children are playing near the substation. Neighbors and friends have reported seeing another child's shoe inside the fence since Larez was hurt.

AEP spokeswoman Shelley DiMattio said last week that the substation had been checked twice within a week of the incident, and that the fence had been cut on the same afternoon the boy climbed inside.

LAREZ'S PARENTS James Alexander listens as his son's mother, Melissa Gammell, recalls the day Larez Alexander, 10, nearly lost his life when he came in contact with an electric substation transformer while playing in his neighborhood. Neighbors said Larez was one of several children who frequently crawled through a hole in the fence to retrieve a ball or Frisbee. An American Electric Power Co. spokeswoman has said that the hole was cut the day the child was hurt. Gammell said she wants to see more precautions at the substation so what happened to her son won't happen to any other child.

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