Tractor pull fans open hearts, wallets for 7-year-old
Published 7:48 am Wednesday, June 30, 2010
WINDSOR—Fans attending the Saturday night Truck and Tractor Pull shared their hearts with 7-year-old Logan Fray.
The Chesapeake boy was a guest of honor for the event at The Fairgrounds at Heritage Park. During an intermission, his father, Larry, shared the story about how his son nearly died from electrocution on March 20.
The 11,000 to 19,000 volts of electricity that ran through Logan left him with burns over 26 percent of his body. He underwent 10 surgeries during a 10-week stay at Shriners Hospital for Children in Cincinnati, Ohio. Treatment is expected to continue until Logan is 21.
The story touched those who heard it.
“People just started coming up and giving us money,” said Amy Hooker, secretary-treasurer for Hooker Up Motorsports, the promoter for the Windsor tractor pulls.
“Some of the pullers donated their winnings back to him. It was unbelievable,” Hooker said. “We didn’t mention anything about (giving money). It was kind of the highlight of the evening, it shocked me and amazed me.”
Logan’s mother, Leslie Fray, was overwhelmed with the $2,300 given to the family, whose five other children range from 14 years old to 19 months.
“It was just amazing that people do care,” she said. “You really don’t know what to say, but we want to tell them we appreciate it. Doing it out of their hearts is a blessing.”
Logan was seriously injured after grabbing onto an old satellite dish cable that had been stapled to a tree at the family’s home. The cable was hanging from a tree within the boy’s reach. It’s believed Logan may have tried to swing from it, but when he pulled the cable out, it hit live overhead power lines.
“For him to make it through is a blessing,” Fray said. “He was very lucky.”
Logan came home from the hospital in early June and continues therapy three times a week.
The family has health insurance, yet has co-payments for Logan’s treatment. Larry Fray works for BASF in Suffolk.