Florida Couple Recover in 2 Days After Lightning Strike Leaves Both With Brain Bleeds
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Sep 24
Florida Couple Recover in 2 Days After Lightning Strike Leaves Both With Brain Bleeds
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 24
Summary
Aaron Walenga, 48, and Clare Walenga, 43, said scans found brain bleeds in both of them and heart damage in Clare, but follow-up tests two days later showed the injuries had healed.
Sept. 2 on Winter Haven's West Orange Trail, lightning struck the couple during an evening walk, leaving Clare unconscious and Aaron disoriented, unable to move and initially thinking they had been hit by a car.
Four bystanders called 911 and performed CPR on Clare before responders arrived about 10 minutes later; witnesses told her she had stopped breathing for three to four minutes and turned blue.
Hospital treatment also found Aaron had fractured eye sockets, a broken nose, damaged teeth, facial cuts and burns on his hand and wrists, where he was holding an umbrella and wearing an Apple Watch.
The couple said they have since built ties with the good Samaritans, received broad support from their church and neighbors, and plan to return to the trail within weeks.