Wichita ? Dakota Lonker bucks hay bales, drives heavy equipment and just recently got back from a canoe trip.

It can be hard for his family to believe 15-year-old Dakota was hit by lightning outside his great-uncle’s house in Medicine Lodge almost a year ago.

But they know he is fortunate to be alive.

Dakota was dropped off at his great-uncle’s house during a thunderstorm on July 27 and was struck as he ran to the backyard to make sure his young cousins were not inside the tent where they had spent the previous night.

Dakota’s great-uncle, Don Lonker, ran from his veterinary clinic next door and began CPR on Dakota, who was not breathing and had no pulse. He began breathing erractically as emergency personnel arrived. Dakota was taken to a Wichita hospital and was released a few days later.

He started his freshman year in high school with the rest of his classmates, but his mother held him out of football and contact activities.

As this summer hits its stride, however, he is under no restrictions.

“I’m still overly cautious and protective,” Jamie Lonker, Dakota’s mother, said. “It’s just the way we are as moms.”

According to the weather service, there have been 63 lightning deaths and 269 lightning injuries in Kansas between 1959 and 2009.

Dakota is on that list.

Mary Ann Cooper, a lightning injury researcher, said Dakota ‘s seemingly complete recovery is uncommon.

Most survivors of lightning strikes have some sort of lingering effects, she said — particularly if they stopped breathing after being hit.

But if side effects haven’t surfaced yet, she said, they’re not likely to later in life.