Nurse struck by lightning at Dorchester beach released from hospital, expected to make full recovery
BOSTON - A row of dozens of Boston Medical Center employees cheered and hollered as Thalita Teixeira Padilla was wheeled down the hall to be discharged on Wednesday.
After 40 days in the hospital, she's finally being released. Padilla was struck by lightning as she walked her dog along Savin Hill Beach.
"Honestly, it kills you," explained Dr. Tracy Dechert of Boston Medical Center. "And she died."
Luckily for Padilla, a nurse was walking nearby and administered CPR until medics could arrive. That nurse, who the family still hasn't found, saved her life, Padilla's doctors and family said.
There is a less than a one in a million chance of getting struck by lightning, according to the CDC. When you get struck by lightning, "It's sending an electrical charge from wherever it enters through and then to where it exits. So that current travels through everything in between, so whether it's the heart or muscle," Techert said.
When Padilla was first admitted, doctors thought she might not make it. "Every day was like overcoming a battle," her brother Andre Teixeira said. "Her brain isn't working, her eyes aren't working, her kidneys, so everyday, even though she was overcoming the odds, it was no breaks."
But eventually, in between the setbacks, things started to turn around, culminating in the point Padilla was wheeled out the doors of BMC to start her next phase of recovery at Spaulding Rehab, where her doctors anticipate she could spend weeks to months. Her family is so grateful she is alive, and they said despite only being able speak sparingly, she is in good spirits. Padilla is a travel ICU nurse, and is already motivated by her own experience to advance her career.
"She's already talking about maybe using the time to go back and get her masters while she's in recovery, so that kind of explains where her spirit is at," said Teixeira.
Miraculously, Padilla is expected to make a full recovery. "We are blessed," said Teixeira.