12-Year-Old Girl Struck by Lightning, Hero Dad Rushes to Save Her Life
Playing in the rain with your dad on a warm, autumn day seems like fun to pretty much any typical pre-teen kid. But what what started out as some light-hearted, innocent father-daughter time nearly ended in disaster.
Ella Jorgensen and her dad, Steven Jorgensen, were enjoying some family time visiting with her grandparents and playing outside their Sun City West home.
In what might be the first miracle in a string of several, Steven was only about 50 feet away from 12-year-old Ella when what seemed like some rainy, outdoor fun got terrifying, according to KNXV.
Ella was suddenly struck by a bolt of lightning.
Steven’s Marine Corps and medical training instantly kicked in. He launched himself toward his daughter, landed on his knees, and immediately started CPR, according to KSAZ.
“I wanted to get on down there quickly, and that was the fastest route,” Jorgensen said.
He said the lightning was, “super bright,” and there was a, “loud crash that cracked.”
“I got her heart back going. Got her breathing [for a] short amount of time, so I lost it again. I panicked, started again, got her heart beating a little longer,” Jorgensen said.
The third time he started CPR, her heart continued to beat, and the paramedics had arrived on the scene and took her to a nearby hospital.
Dr. Kevin Foster, a surgeon at Valleywise Health has been treating her.
“I think the instrumental thing in saving her was that her father recognized that her heart had stopped, and he was able to do effective CPR and get her heart started again and that literally saved her life,” Dr. Foster said.
Foster went on to note that her recovery is going well and she only has a small, superficial mark on her body that is expected to heal up and eventually be unnoticeable.
“She’s basically unscathed. It’s amazing,” Jorgensen said.
“She really owes her life to her father,” Dr. Foster said.
Foster noted that it’s extremely unusual to get struck by lightning, but that if you hear thunder or see lightning, you need to take cover to avoid a strike.
When Jorgensen told Ella she had been struck by lightning, he said she didn’t believe it at first.
“Once they got the tubes out and her mom told her again,” Jorgensen said, “she just looked at her mom and hugged her and said ‘I’m going to have a cool story to tell forever.'”
