In a shocking turn of events, 8-year-old Lorenzo Lopez suffered an almost fatal electrocution while he was fast asleep on his bed. There was a phone on the bed that Lopez was sleeping on and it was loosely connected to an extension cord that was plugged into another outlet.
As Lopez rolled over in his sleep, his necklace fell “between where the gap was on the extension cord and the charger, which is what shocked him” as his mother Kourtney Pendleton, told KWCH. Speaking to KWCH again, Lopez said that he felt heat on his neck and tried to scream for help but could not do so because of the electrocution . He somehow managed to take off his necklace and call for help.
Lopez talked more about the “scary” incident, saying, “”It was chaos. I almost thought I was going to die.” His mother mentioned that a hospital staff had told her, “Had he not pulled that chain off, he would have been electrocuted to death.” That meant that Lopez practically saved his own life and he seemed happy about that as he said, “I guess I saved myself, and I’m happy about that.”
An eight-year-old boy nearly died by electric shock from his phone charger after falling asleep. pic.twitter.com/JGQ59cTYBa
— Local 12/WKRC-TV (@Local12) November 26, 2025
Pendleton has created a GoFundMe page for Lopez and according to the page he has undergone skin graft and is expected to stay under the hospital care for two weeks. In a November 27 post, Pendleton wrote, “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.”
The post further mentioned, “This has been such a heavy and emotional journey, but he’s holding on with a strength that inspires all of us.” According to an update on December 1 on Pendleton’s Facebook page, Lopez is still in the hospital. Talking about his stay at the hospital, Lopez told KWCH, “They’ve been treating me nice, I just like being nice to talk to and having fun.”
Pendleton also took this opportunity to inform parents about the hazards of keeping electronic devices on children’s beds. She posted, “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.”
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The fact that Lopez managed to take his necklace off on time shows his bravery and presence of mind. However, if he had failed to do that, the result would have been an extremely unfortunate and fatal one. This incident also highlights the kind of risks that electronic devices in bed can bring even unintentionally.
In a household with children, it is therefore best to not keep any phones or other devices on the bed when a child is there. Children should be kept away from such devices to ensure these unwanted accidents do not happen as these can put their lives in danger.
