A 12-year-old girl playing outside was struck by lightning in Arizona. Now the doctor treating her says her father is the one who saved her life, according to media outlets.
The girl was hospitalized on Oct. 15 after she was struck by lightning in the West Valley, according to ABC 15 Arizona.
The 12-year-old’s heart stopped three times and her father performed CPR to resuscitate her, bringing her back to life each time, according to KKTV.
“I think the instrumental thing in saving her was that her father recognized that her heart had stopped, and he was able to do effective CPR and get her heart started again and that literally saved her life,” Dr. Kevin Foster said, according to Fox 10 Phoenix.
The girl’s father, Steven Jorgensen, is a military veteran and has medical training, according to Fox 10 Phoenix.
Jorgensen, who fought in Iraq in 2007 and Afghanistan in 2008 said he’s “had plenty of experience,” according to FOX 10 Phoenix.
“I’m just a dad taking care of his daughter,” Jorgensen said of Ella. “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,” according to KKTV.
The odds of getting struck by lightning are less than one in a million, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
After Jorgenson broke the news to Ella that she’d been struck by lightning, she didn’t believe him, according to ABC 15 Phoenix.
“Once they got the tubes out and her mom told her again, she just looked at her mom and hugged her and said I’m going to have a cool story to tell forever.”
Ella is set to be released from the hospital soon and is in “good spirits,” according to KKTV.
___
© 2022 The Charlotte Observer
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
