Survivor of White House Lightning Strike Embraces third chance at life

A graduate student canvassing near the White House on 8/4/22 for a nonprofit humanitarian group (International Rescue Committee - aids people in disaster zones) was one of four people hit by a lightning strike in Lafayette Park. She was the only one to survive, despite her heart stopping twice, the second time for more than 10 minutes. She ponders the meaning of being the one to survive the experience and describes the horrible pain from burns and nerve damage that she's still suffering from. Focuses on gratitude, learned from her aunt and uncle who died of cancer years ago but were grateful to be alive up until the end.

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  • Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/19/us/white-house-lightning-survivor.html?action=click&algo=identity&block=editors_picks_recirc&fellback=false&imp_id=504978523&impression_id=b5ad50c2-1ff0-11ed-8e10-833c109b62e0&index=2&pgtype=Article&pool=editors-picks-ls
    • Details

      Language: English

      Type of Story: Newspaper or Magazine

      Medium: written

      Contributed by: Health Story Hub Team ( health-storyhub@uiowa.edu )

      Citation:

      Holpuch, A. (2022, August 19). Survivor of White House Lightning Strike Embraces third chance at life. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/19/us/white-house-lightning-survivor.html?action=click&algo=identity&block=editors_picks_recirc&fellback=false&imp_id=504978523&impression_id=b5ad50c2-1ff0-11ed-8e10-833c109b62e0&index=2&pgtype=Article&pool=editors-picks-ls&region=ccolumn&req_id=791002485&surface=home-featured&variant=0_identity&action=click&module=editorContent&pgtype=Article&region=CompanionColumn&contentCollection=Trending