An online friend of mine who lives in Mississippi writes: "We were planning a birthday party for A tomorrow morning so my daughter took off work at noon to help get the house ready. About the time she left work it came a FLOOD. But the rain had pretty much stopped. My daughter parked her car by the road and sat in it waiting for the bus to come at 4:00. It was late because of the rain. But when the bus got there it was barely sprinkling.
So my daughter ran out to the bus door with an umbrella to walk A in. Honestly, it wasn’t raining enough to need it. There had been no recent thunder or lightning. I had taken a break from party prep to sit on the front porch and wait for the bus. The started walking towards the house, past one of our big oak trees. I heard a loud clap of thunder but didn’t see lightning. It apparently struck the top of the tree and jumped to them, not a direct hit. Both of them didn’t even react, just fell face first totally unconscious instantly. I grabbed my phone and dialed 911 and ran to them. I rolled them onto their backs. Neither were responsive. I could see that C was breathing but A wasn’t. I started performing cpr on her while they were transferring me to the right 911 (it went to the next county because I live close to the line).
From that point, details are fuzzy. My daughter moaned some so she was regaining consciousness. She finally could say single words but was totally paralyzed. A wasn’t breathing. She turned blue. I got her breathing. But her breathing was irregular and labored and her heart was pounding. The sheriff deputies showed up. It started POURING rain so they moved them to the porch. C was pretty conscious by then but could not move. A was breathing and crying a bit but not breathing well. (They think she had an asthma attack. I’m not sure.) I literally laid on my porch and sang the song I sing her every night into her ear while they worked on her.
The ambulance came and took them.
They have since been transferred to a burn ICU about 100 miles away. C has mostly 1st degree burns but a 2nd degree one where her underwire in her bra was. Her other tests look fine. A has mostly 1st degree, i think they said 10-12% of her body.
This is all bizarre. Out of the blue. I don’t think the real trauma has hit me because they both looked OK. Not like a bloody car wreck or something. But every time I close my eyes I see how purple she was turning and unresponsive. It was awful."