What would you do if you saw your child fall to the ground after a lightning strike?
12-year-old Ella Jorgensen’s father immediately jumped into action.
The young girl and some of her friends were visiting her grandparents in Sun City West, Arizona when a huge thunderstorm rolled in. The girl stepped outside right as a thunderclap sounded and just a few seconds later the lightning struck.
The girls’ father saw her fall to the ground and rushed to her side, scrapping his knees in the process.
Ella’s heart had stopped when the lightning struck and she lay motionless on the ground when her father, Steven Jorgensen, started CPR. He managed to resuscitate her quickly, then her heart stopped again. In total, he had to perform the CPR three times as Ella’s heart kept stopping.
Luckily, the TV show “The Office” had done an episode on how to properly perform CPR.
Steven credited the show saying, “…you can hear me singing The Bee Gees ‘Staying Alive’ as I’m giving her resuscitation.”. His time serving in the Marines, with tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan, surely also played a big role in him managing to stay calm and do what was necessary.
When Ella woke up in the hospital she didn’t believe what had happened.
Steven recalls that he told her what happened, but she didn’t believe him, “She didn’t believe me at first…her mom told her again, she just looked at her mom and said, “I’m going to have a cool story to tell forever now!”. Ella was extremely lucky and only accrued minor injuries.
“She is basically unscathed,” said Doctor Kevin Foster, “it’s amazing.”
It is unknown whether the lightning stuck her directly, or was just extremely close. Her father said that when it happened the necklace she was wearing shattered, that is what led to her most serious injury, a burn on her chest.
The most common lightning strike victims are males aged around 37 years old making Ella’s case even stranger.
Lightning strikes approximately 40 million times per year in the United States and while most of these strikes do no harm, there have been 20 deaths associated with it. Without her father being there to take charge of the situation, Ella could have been number 21.
Though Ella seems to be fine, even being released from the hospital after 1 day, there are still side effects to look out for.
Aside from the physical effects that can occur from being struck by lightning, there are other issues that can arise as well. Things from hearing loss and vision problems, to numbness, tingling, and pain, and even personality changes can take shape.
In one case, an orthopedic surgeon who was struck by lightning suddenly started playing the piano, he left the medical field and is now a classical pianist.
Hopefully, for 12 year old Ella Jorgensen and her family, nothing will change and she will get to continue being a normal kid, albeit one with an awesome story to tell from now on.
Watch the proud father speaking about the incident in the video below!
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