NORTH RICHLAND HILLS (CBSDFW.COM) - Austin Stewart has come a long way in a short time. The 14-year-old has no trouble joking around and laughing, but that laughter quickly fades when he talks about how he's feeling.

"I've had pains - twitches here and there," Austin said.

Austin almost died two weeks ago.

He was playing with his friend near a culvert along Jerrell Street in North Richland Hills.

"We were playing football near a woman's yard," he said. "The ball went into the culvert."

It was raining on and off that day and the culvert was rushing with water.

He said his 11-year-old friend jumped in, overcome by the rushing water. He grabbed what he thought was a rope, but it was actually a downed power line.

"He was making a weird face so I went up to him and noticed he was being shocked," Austin said. "I tried to pull him off and I don't remember after that."

Austin, who has a heart condition, not only was shocked, but nearly drowned.

"He's a very brave boy," said his mother Amanda Stewart. "Not everybody would do that. He told me, 'I wasn't going to let my best friend die.'"

The family has hired Dallas attorney Majed Nachawati and are in the process of filing a lawsuit against Oncor, who owned the power line.

He said he has witnesses who saw the power line down before that Saturday.

"There are problems with the power lines in the area in the past that had indeed been reported to Oncor," Nachawati said. "And that it appears that they failed to take proper action to make sure the power lines were in reasonable working condition."

The lawsuit will also be on behalf of Austin's friend. He's still in critical condition at Cook Children's Medical Center.

His family wanted to remain anonymous.

"I'm glad he's here today," said Amanda as she looked at her son.

Austin admits it's been a struggle to see his friend recover. He said he has learned his lesson and now wants to warn others.

"I would warn kids not to play in creeks like that," he said. "If a ball gets down there, don't go down there and try to get it."

A spokesman with Oncor said it had not received any complaints about downed power lines before the incident.

The spokesman also said the company cannot comment on a lawsuit they haven't seen yet, but they are still conducting an internal investigation.