Each year, roughly 40 million lightning strikes hit the ground in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The chance of getting struck by lightning is less than 1 in 1 million. Even then, 90% of those who do get struck survive.
With all of this in mind, surviving a lightning strike often comes with lasting injuries. A woman who was struck in September 2023 spent roughly a year in the hospital recovering from her experience. And recently, she finally went home.
More from LittleThings: Texas Dad Dies After Being Struck By Lightning While Holding 6-Year-Old Son's Hand
Thalita Teixeira Padilla, a travel nurse, was walking her dog along Savin Hill Beach in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in September 2023. Suddenly, she was struck by lightning, prompting her dog to run off. Bystanders, including a nurse, rushed to perform life-saving measures, WCVB Channel 5 Boston reported. Thankfully, her dog was later found and returned to the family.
On September 9, 2023, Padilla was transported to Boston Medical Center in critical condition after getting struck by lightning. She suffered from burns, nerve damage, and a spinal cord injury. Hospital officials told ABC 10 Boston at the time that she spent several weeks on the "edge of life."
Later, she was transferred to a different hospital, where she spent months learning how to walk.
In October 2023, Padilla was transferred to Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. She spent months recovering and slowly but surely learned how to walk again.
"It was amazing to watch, she was incredible to work with," Norah Sweeney, a physical therapist, told ABC 10 Boston. "She was not able to walk independently when she came from in-patient and now she is out walking, going places by herself."
Padilla was officially discharged from Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital on September 19, 2024, just over a year after the lightning strike, ABC 10 Boston reported. She is able to move with the help of a walker. She hopes she will be able to return to work soon.
More from LittleThings: Airplane Gets Hit By One Scary Lightning Bolt
"I am starting to think about the future for the first time in this whole year, and it seems very new still," Padilla told the news outlet. "It feels like I was born again. It feels like starting a whole new life."
