Teen healing well from severe burns suffered during school project

SALT LAKE CITY — A 17-year-old high school student from Santa Clara is recovering at the University of Utah burn center in Salt Lake.

Decker Habrel is recovering from serious burn injuries. His mother Kate tells Fox 13 he was working alone on an art project outside of class at Snow Canyon High School, using jumper cables.

Watch Fox 13 Now’s video in the media player top of this report.

“While he was working on it, somehow got shocked. It was enough to drop him instantly. When he fell, he broke a couple teeth on the way down. Landed on the jumper cables and so he had an initial shock,” said Kate.

Decker was severely burned and shocked. His mother says he damaged multiple fingers.

Read the full story here:  Fox13Now.com

Written by TAMARA VAIFANUA, Fox13Now.com.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright 2017 Fox13Now.com / KSTU, a Tribune Broadcasting Station.

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7 Comments

  • Caveat_Emptor April 4, 2017 at 9:36 am

    It is still unclear what he was doing with the jumper cables and presumably a 12 Volt car/truck battery.
    In the interest of helping others learn from this bad experience it would be helpful to share exactly what happened.
    I trust our typical high school science teacher would immediately identify the risk and recommend a different, and safer, approach.

    He is fortunate to have care from some of the best professionals in burn care.

    • comments April 4, 2017 at 11:11 am

      Nope, no way it was a car battery. He was likely messing with at least a stadard 120v outlet, and possibly a 240v. I don’t know what the heck kind of contraption he had rigged up, and I’d like to know. The district better pucker up, cuz I smell a million dollar lawsuit coming their way.

      • comments April 4, 2017 at 11:16 am

        Of course we the taxpayers will be ponying up that cash in the end. Whomever allowed this maybe needs to lose their job. It almost sounds like this kid basically just plugged wires into an outlet and was messing around with arcing the current.

        • comments April 4, 2017 at 11:29 am

          Depending on how much the boys parents decide to sue the district for, this boy may have single-handedly shut down the school’s woodshop program. On the other hand, if this was some sort of contraption the boy sneaked in under the instructor’s nose then he should be the one disiplined. On the bright side, the kid aint dead or even too injured, and he’ll be far more careful around electricity in the future.

          • comments April 4, 2017 at 11:59 am

            Oh, for those curious I think this is what it is: Lichtenberg Wood burning

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuG1oNRQnyI

          • Bender April 4, 2017 at 11:49 pm

            Lichtenberg was my first thought too COMMENTS. It’s showed up several times recently on reddit.

  • old school April 4, 2017 at 10:20 am

    I’m curious to know if that was an approved part of the school curriculum, or just something the student came up with and was allowed to do. As a parent, I am entrusting school authorities to provided a safe nurturing environment with a set of control’s in place designed to head off the “bad decisions” growing inquisitive teenagers are prone to make. If an investigation is not under way, I hope it is certainly forthcoming

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