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Wisconsin 1st-grader out of coma after lawnmower accident

A Wisconsin first-grader who was hit in the head by a rock propelled by a lawnmower at his school has emerged from a coma and is eating, family members said.

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Alex Hook, 6, was in a medically induced coma after he was hit Sept. 10 while at recess at Riverview Elementary School in Silver Lake, the La Crosse Tribune reported.

According to the boy’s aunt, Michelle Delaquila Koertgen, a landscaper mowed over a piece of rebar, which struck the boy directly in the back of his head.

“Alex is now in stable condition and has been moved to the neuro floor,” his mother, Caryn Hook, wrote on Facebook.

While Hook has a long road to recovery, the initial signs are looking good.

“He is in good spirits. He has care 24/7,” Koertgen told WITI. “The first thing they gave him, as far as solid food, was a piece of pizza. He was thrilled with that.”

Koertgen said her nephew is aware of what happened to him.

“He knows he has a big boo-boo,” she told WISN. “He knows it happened at school. He does recall being at school, but he also knows he wants to get out of bed.”

>> Wisconsin 1st grader critical after hit by rock launched from lawnmower

The landscaper was 72 feet away from Hook on the other side of a chain-link fence at the time of the accident, according to WISN, which cited a sheriff’s department report.

The boy was flown to Children’s Hospital in Wauwatosa where he underwent emergency brain surgery, the newspaper reported. He suffered a fractured skull and bleeding in his brain, according to the La Crosse Tribune.

A member of the community is organizing a fundraising benefit ride for Oct. 23 to help the Hook family.

“I might have squeezed my girls a little harder that night thinking about what had happened,” Justin Guerrero, a parent whose child also attends Riverview Elementary. “It’s a benefit ride where we’re going to bring the motorcycle community together and raise funds to help the family.

“Just bring people together and show support for the family.”

A GoFundMe page that Koertgen set up has more than $172,000 in donations.