This woman was struck by lightning while walking her dog and recounts what she saw

A simple walk can take an unexpected turn and change a life forever. During the month of August, Rebecca Soto, a resident of Florida, USA, was struck by lightning. Technically, she died shortly after being electrocuted, owing her survival only to the intervention of her husband, the nursing staff who attended her... and a little luck.

An electric kind of walk

The events took place in August, when Rebecca Soto was out walking her dog. According to Unilad, she has no recollection of the event. She was simply walking her dog when her husband heard a loud bang. When he went to meet his wife, he found her unconscious, lying on the ground.

Naturally, her husband wasted no time in contacting the emergency services, who transported her to hospital by ambulance, and that's when Rebecca Soto 'lost' her life. Her husband recounts:

Between the time they went to pick her up and the ambulance ride, her heart stopped, and they were able to defibrillate her and bring her back to life.

Ironically, it was lightning that caused her to temporarily lose her life, and it was an electric shock that brought her back among the living.

Read more:Running during a thunderstorm can have fatal consequences for your health

Burns and memory loss

Rebecca Soto may have been resuscitated, but her contact with lightning did not leave her unscathed. In a GoFundMe launched by one of her relatives, we learn that:

Becca was in critical condition for several days. Lightning burned her from head to toe. She was on life support and even underwent therapeutic hypothermia to preserve her brain function, since she'd been without oxygen for so long. No one wanted to say it, but the prognosis was grim.

Her body shows several burn marks, and Rebecca suffers from memory problems. She writes memos in her diary to make sure she doesn't forget anything, and those close to her regularly have to remind her why she ended up in hospital. Despite these difficulties, the young woman has not lost her zest for life and testifies:

I always come back to the word 'grateful'. I'm grateful and very lucky to be where I am today and to have healed as much as I have in the last three or four weeks. It's an amazing thing to realize and think about. The idea of telling myself that 'I'm dead' is very heavy to bear. It's a lot to digest.

Read more:Ever wondered how planes are protected from thunderstorms? This is all you need to know

This article has been translated from Gentside FR.

Sources used:

Unilad: Woman who had to be brought ‘back to life’ after being struck by lightning speaks about experience

GoFundMe: Help cover medical expenses for Rebecca Soto.