A Phoenix teen was struck by a bolt of lightning and medical officials are astonished by his recovery.
Josiah Wiedman felt almost invincible after being hit by lightning and walking out of the hospital five days later. The 13-year-old recounted his experience and told Fox 10, ” I survived it.”
(Fox 10 screenshot)
“It started kinda raining, so I was going home,” the 8th grader said. “Then randomly, I felt this burst of heat, then everything went dark.”
He continued, “It just felt like needles constantly being stabbed into me.”
Wiedman fell and hit his head on the ground extremely hard which caused him to blackout with a concussion. The lightning bolt stopped his heart for 15 minutes, but his neighbor performed CPR, which Dr. Craig Egan with Phoenix Children’s Hospital believed saved the teen’s life. He also added that he’s never seen a lightning victim recover so fast.
“I’m very amazed there’s not more injury to Josiah or his friend,” Dr. Egan expressed.
Wiedman’s friend also suffered from a concussion and minor burns. The teen’s mother said she believes the skateboard her son was holding caused him to be electrically shocked.
“Dang. I beat death,” Wiedman said. “I feel like I’m superman right now.”
Medical officials have ordered the 8th grader to rest at home for a few weeks and to undergo speech and physical therapy. He didn’t suffer from any permanent damages and escaped with a few bruises on his leg.
According to The Sun 1 in 300,000 people are likely to be struck by lightning.
