Father Saves 12-Year-Old Daughter Who Is Struck by Lightning

“Just seemed like any other normal day when it comes to the rain here in Arizona,” Jorgensen said.

According to Jorgensen, his daughter had gone outside just as the thunder started to rumble.

After Ella was electrocuted, Jorgensen immediately ran to his daughter’s aid. Her heart stopped three times, and each time Jorgensen performed CPR, resuscitating her.

“I’m just a dad taking care of his daughter,” Jorgensen said. “Trying to keep calm over the whole situation, the scene from The Office, the CPR training scene, kicked in my head, and you can hear me singing the Bee Gees’ ‘Staying Alive’ as I’m giving her resuscitation.”

Ella was then taken to the hospital, where doctors determined that the bolt likely struck near her instead of hitting her directly, enabling her to survive the ordeal.

“When they were taking the breathing tubes out, that’s when she was trying to figure out what happened. I broke the news to her that she got struck by lightning. She didn’t believe me at first, and 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!’” Jorgensen recalled.

Ella sustained burns on her chest from her necklace but is in “good spirits,” the family shared.

“The main injury she had, the burning was onto her chest. It bubbled up a little bit. And she has some minor burns on her hips, her thighs and her calf,” he said.

According to the National Weather Service, 90 percent of people who are struck by lightning survive. Still, so far, 19 people have been killed by lightning in the U.S. this year.

Photo courtesy: Glenn Abelson/Unsplash

Kayla Koslosky is the former Editor of ChristianHeadlines.com. She has B.A. degrees in English and History and previously wrote for and was the managing editor of the Yellow Jacket newspaper. She has also contributed to IBelieve.com and Crosswalk.com.