Assume you’re paying a routine visit to your grandparents’ house and go outside to play with a friend. A storm is brewing, and then lightning strikes. Ella Jorgensen, a 12-year-old Arizona girl, is alive today thanks to her father’s quick thinking. “It just seemed like any other normal day when it comes to the rain here in Arizona,” Ella’s father, Steven Jorgensen, said.
Ella had just walked outside when the thunderclap began. Lightning struck Ella in a matter of seconds. Doctors believe that the lightning did not directly strike Ella, but rather struck near her, knocking her out in an instant. Her father, Steven, jumped into action — literally. While emergencies can catch you off guard, Steven is a former Marine and is therefore trained to deal with them. Even so, it’s frightening when it’s your own daughter.
“I got her heart going, I got her breathing, and it was only for a short time, so I lost it again,” Steven explained. “I had a quick panic, restarted, and then I got her heart beating again for a little while longer.” Ella passed out three times, and each time her father revived her with CPR. His military experience saved his daughter’s life. Dr. Kevin Foster, director of the Arizona Burn Center where Ella was treated, said she has some blisters and minor burns but is otherwise fine.
“She’s basically unscathed,” Kevin said. “It’s amazing.” While lightning is common during a rainstorm, being struck by it is uncommon. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the chances of being struck by lightning are less than one in a million in any given year. Approximately 90% of lightning strike victims survive, according to statistics. However, according to the National Weather Service, 19 people in the United States were killed by lightning in 2022 alone.
Ella was not meant to be the 20th lightning fatality in the United States. Her father is overjoyed. Doctors credit him with saving Ella’s life, but to him, it was just being a father. “I’m just a Dad taking care of his daughter,” Steven explained. “Trying to remain calm in the face of the situation, the scene from ‘The Office,’ the CPR training scene, came to mind, and you can hear me singing the Bee Gees’ ‘Staying Alive’ as I give her resuscitation.” Ella, as expected, has few memories of the incident.
She was rushed to the hospital, and things were moving quickly. Her parents explained what happened as doctors removed her breathing tubes, and she remained positive throughout the ordeal. “She was trying to figure out what happened while they were taking the breathing tubes out,” Steven explained. “I told her she had been struck by lightning. She didn’t believe me at first, but once they got the tubes out and 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 has quite the story!