An Arizona teen has spoken out after being hit by lightning.
“If it weren’t for [God], like, I’d be dead,” 13-year-old Josiah Wiedman said, according to Inside Edition. “It’s an all miracle.”
He was walking in El Mirage park earlier in August when he was struck by a lightning bolt. “I felt like this burst of like heat and everything went dark,” Josiah said.
A witness gave him CPR until he was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, and then he spent three days in a medically induced coma.
A doctor was amazed by his recovery.
“I can’t exactly explain why he doesn’t have any outside burns, but it is fairly consistent with a lightning strike,” Dr. Craig Egan at the Phoenix Children’s Hospital told Inside Edition. “Fortunately, the amount of electricity passing through muscles and heart wasn’t enough to cause lasting damage.”
Fox 10 reported on Aug. 14 that Josiah left the hospital five days after he was struck.
Egan told the affiliate station that there was “just enough electricity to temporarily stop the heart,” adding that the person who performed CPR saved him.
“Dang, I survived it,” said Josiah. “I was dead for, like, 15 minutes. Dang. I beat death.”
Doctors ordered the teen to stay home for the next several weeks to recover. He will still have to undergo physical and speech therapies.
His father, William Wiedman, told the Arizona Republic newspaper more details about the incident: “He remembers … jumping back on his skateboard and going back home. He thought he was at home and asleep for two hours when it was three days.”
Wiedman said that his son was only able to list three animals with his speech therapist, but during his last session, he can now name 30 animals. His son also has “very high blood pressure,” and he’s been getting treatment, according to the report.
He said that it’s not clear how long the speech therapy will last, adding that his son can walk on his own. But his short-term memory is an issue, his father said.
But in all, “It just built my faith up,” Wiedman said.
More Details
A GoFundMe page was set up for pay for his medical expenses.
According to the GoFundMe, “Josiah and his friend were walking home and Josiah was carrying his skateboard. The wood portion was against Josiah’s body. The lightning bolt attacked the skateboard, went through Josiah, and then went to his friend.”
“It is believed that the friend has serious burns but is able to tell what happen[ed]. Josiah flew into the air when he was hit. He fell down head first and therefore has a skull fracture and concussion. Because of that, he began throwing up and breathed in some vomit,” the page added.
The page added: “A bystander, named Cory, administered CPR until paramedics were there. And we would like to thank him greatly! Josiah has been placed on medication for pain, but when taken off medication to assess his alertness he did not respond. Other family members in Arizona reported that he moved but didn’t respond.”
From The Epoch Times