Edison teen recovering after electric shock, 30-foot fall

EDISON — When J.P. Stevens and Perth Amboy high schools meet on the football field Friday night, fans are expected to come out dressed in blue rather than the usual green to support a former student who was injured this week when he was zapped by power lines and fell onto train tracks.

The student, identified in several reports as Lance Vargas, was injured after climbing a steel railroad trestle behind St. Joseph High School in Metuchen. Police say Vargas fell about 30 feet, landing on the railroad tracks. He was treated at the scene before being taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.

Vargas' grandmother said on Facebook on Tuesday night that he had been taken to St. Barnabas Hospital burn unit.

A hospital spokesman on Thursday said the teen remains in "critical but stable" condition.

Vargas' grandmother said he was being treated for broken bones and burns covering more than 70 percent of his body.

"We love him so," she said online. "He needs prayers and a miracle."

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Contact reporter Adam Hochron at 609-359-5326 or Adam.Hochron@townsquaremedia.com