Think about going outside to play with a friend while on a routine visit to your grandparents’ home. A storm is brewing, and then lightning strikes unexpectedly.
Ella Jorgensen, a 12-year-old Arizona girl, is still alive today thanks to her father’s quick thinking.
“With the rain here in Arizona, it just seemed like any other normal day,” Ella’s father, Steven Jorgensen, said.
When the thunder started to rumble, Ella had just stepped outside. Within a few seconds, Ella was struck by lightning.
Doctors believe Ella was knocked out instantly by lightning that struck her nearby rather than directly. Steven, her father, jumped into action—literally.
Emergency situations can take you by surprise, but Steven, a former Marine, is prepared to handle them. Even so, it’s a little frightening when it’s your own daughter.
Steven said, “I got her heart beating again; I got her breathing again, but it was only for a brief period, so I lost it again.” “I briefly panicked, reset, and then I regained control of her heartbeat for a short period of time.”
Ella passed out three times before her father revived her with CPR. His service in the military saved his daughter’s life.
Ella has some blisters and minor burns, according to Dr. Kevin Foster, director of the Arizona Burn Center, where she was sent to recover.
“She’s essentially unscathed,” Kevin said. “It’s incredible.”
Being struck by lightning is unusual, even though lightning during a downpour is common. The likelihood of being struck by lightning in any given year is less than one in a million, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Most victims of lightning strikes survive, according to statistics, about 90% of the time. However, the National Weather Service reports that 19 lightning-related fatalities occurred in the United States in 2022 alone.
Ella was not intended to be the 20th person killed by lightning in the country. Her father is overjoyed, and rightfully so. The doctors say he saved Ella’s life, but all he wanted was to be a good father.
“I’m just a dad looking after his daughter,” Steven explained. “Trying to remain calm in the face of the situation, the CPR training scene from “The Office” came to mind, and you can hear me singing the Bee Gee’s “Staying Alive” as I give her resuscitation.”
Ella, as expected, has little recollection of the incident. She was rushed to the hospital, and things moved quickly. She remained positive throughout the ordeal as her parents described what happened as the doctors removed her breathing tubes.
She was trying to figure out what happened when they were taking the breathing tubes out. Steven informed her that she had been struck by lightning. She didn’t believe him at first, but after the tubes were removed and her mother told her again, she simply looked at her and said, “I’m going to have a cool story to tell for the rest of my life!”
Ella has a fascinating story!
To celebrate her recovery, share this story with a friend.
