Illinois boy leaves hospital less than 2 weeks after being buried for hours by sand dune

July 24, 2013 at 7:10PM

CHICAGO — A 6-year-old Illinois boy who survived being buried by a sand dune has been released from the hospital, less than two weeks after the accident in Indiana.

Officials say Nathan Woessner (WAYZ'-ner) of Sterling was discharged late Tuesday afternoon from the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital.

The boy was rescued after being buried for more than three hours on July 12 in a dune called Mount Baldy at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

The hospital says Nathan will continue to receive rehabilitative therapy. Doctors say he walked without assistance Sunday and was cleared to visit the hospital playroom Monday.

Doctors initially put Nathan in a medically induced coma. They say he's expected to make a full neurological recovery but may suffer lingering lung problems from inhaling sand.

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