A contractor watched as a lightning strike turned his truck to ash on the highway – but then his 9-year-old son handed him every dollar he’d saved for a dirt bike.
Casey Pettus was driving from St. George to Cedar City on July 29 when lightning struck his truck on Interstate 15, frying the electronics and, within minutes, setting the whole vehicle on fire.
It was already a rough trip as Casey had a slow tire leak and was talking to his brother on the phone about pulling over when the sky opened up.
“Just as we’re talking… boom! I just get rocked,” Casey said. “It took me a few seconds to realize, holy crap, I just got struck by lightning.”
Within five seconds, the truck lost all power. Casey wrestled it to the shoulder without power steering, fighting the rain the whole way.
“Before I could even stop, smoke was coming out of the dash and the passenger side,” he said.
He grabbed his phone, wallet and keys and got clear, but left behind the tools he needs to run his contracting business. A passing driver ran up with a fire extinguisher, but Casey waved him off.
“I was like, no, I don’t even want to go near the truck,” he said. “Who knows what’s going to happen, right? If it explodes or pops off.”
Within five minutes, the truck was fully engulfed. Casey walked away without a scratch, but his tools were not so lucky.
“They’re all cooked,” he said. “They’re all gone.”
But the real twist came later that day, back home. Casey’s 9-year-old son runs his own small business helping neighbors haul their trash cans to the curb and back, saving nearly everything he earns toward a dirt bike.
“He’s been really diligent in making money and saving money,” Casey said. “He doesn’t spend a lot because he has goals.”
Instead of the dirt bike, the boy handed his dad a thick stack of cash and told him to put it toward new tools.
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“I was so touched,” Casey said, choking up. “And he’s like, ‘Here, dad. You could have this to replace your tools,’ and I just, in that moment, I’d never felt so loved, you know what I mean? I felt so much joy for my little man and what he was willing to give up.”
Casey turned the money down, telling his son that insurance would cover the loss. But the internet has been hailing Casey’s son for his thoughtful gesture, despite his relatively young years.
“In the midst of the chaos and the crazy stories and the very real dramatic things that happened to us in life,” he said, “there are those sweet souls that can instantly bring light and joy into your life, and he’s one of them, and that was a moment that we had.”
