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Zack Lee checks out all he gadgets in his new Ford F-150 power wheeler he was given by the Lifting Little Lives organization along with a trip to Wildwood, N.J. (John Beauge, Special to PennLive)

(John Beauge, Special to PennLive)

Zackary Lee, better known as DJ Wyld, holds his son Zack who is nearly recovered from a gunshot wound he suffered in March when picked up a loaded handgun and it discharged.

DuBOISTOWN -- Except for a slight limp, it is impossible to tell 2 1/2-year-old Zack Lee had suffered a serious gunshot wound nearly two months ago.

The toddler jumps on a trampoline, hops around to music, plays with his new power wheeler and asks his father, also Zachery, to chase him around the yard of his DuBoistown double house.

"He's ready to play football," his father said with a smile.

Lee calls his son's recovery from an accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound "phenomenal."

The boy shot himself in the upper groin with a .45-caliber handgun on March 26, and the bullet went through his abdomen and lodged in his back.

It happened in the Montoursville home that his mother, Amanda Fry, was sharing at that time with her boyfriend, Cody Asher.

The adults were taking a shower when Zack picked up a loaded, cocked gun that police later said Asher admitted leaving on a bedroom floor, and the weapon discharged.

Lee said he knew Asher owned firearms but assumed they were locked up.

Zack spent more than two weeks at Janet Weis Children's Hospital at the Geisinger Medical Center near Danville and then nine days more at the Penn State Hershey Rehabilitation Hospital. He was doing so well his rehab time was cut short, his father said.

The toddler has one more procedure at Geisinger and he is to return to Hershey an additional time, Lee said.

Zack's medical bills are covered by insurance but his father, who stopped work as DJ Wyld, a disc jockey, to be with his son, said money became tight and expenses increased with numerous trips to Geisinger and Hershey.

His situation worsened when his mother suffered a heart attack and was flown to Geisinger while Zack still was in the children's hospital. She has since recovered.

Money that Lee had been saving for a family trip to Wildwood, N.J. went instead to pay his bills, Lee said.

Through a friend, Lee learned of Lifting Little Lives, an organization based in West Milton that for seven years has tried to boost spirits of children in Union, Snyder, Northumberland, Columbia, Montour and Lycoming counties.

Lee asked if it could do something small for his son, vice president Butch Heim said. The organization decided to do more.

It held its annual fundraiser last weekend at the Union County West End Fairgrounds and asked Lee to play a few selections Saturday. His parents, Deborah and Francis Lee also were invited.

When Heim announced that Lifting LIttle Lives was giving Lee, his son, fiancee and parents a four-day, all-expenses paid vacation in Wildwood in July, "I was blown away," Lee said.

Zack was also given a Ford 150 power wheeler filled with beach toys. The truck is equipped with a working radio, cell phone connection, seat belts, two cup holders and a tailgate.

"Words can't describe it," Lee said, tearing up as he recalled the moment. . "When I went to talk, I couldn't open my mouth."

Fry, who now lives in Watsontown, and Asher, of the Muncy area, are free on bail awaiting preliminary hearings on charges of aggravated and simple assault and recklessly endangering.

Fry, a registered nurse, has partial custody of her son but Asher is not permitted to have contact with him.