Two children are recovering well in the hospital after being injured from a lightning strike on Wednesday evening.
The boys, 13-year-old Jaden Alvarado and 7-year-old Isaac Martinez, were playing outside near their home in South Fort Worth when lightning struck a nearby tree.
Their uncle, Carlos Martinez, said it was not raining and the weather conditions were not alarming at the time of the strike.
"It was like right now," he told NBC 5 on Thursday. "Partially blue skies, a little overcast. Nothing really going on."
Thunderstorms were moving through North Texas throughout the day Wednesday but picked up in intensity in certain parts of DFW. Although conditions appeared fine in the neighborhood at the time, lightning from a storm cell was close enough to catch the family off guard.
The boys' mother, Jessica Martinez Alvarado, said it happened so fast.
"We were sitting outside as we do every day with our neighbor and we were sitting in the garage while they were running around playing," recalled Martinez Alvarado. "It started to thunder and lightning. Out of nowhere, we just heard a big pop sound and then it looked like fireworks were coming down the tree."
Lightning had struck a tree nearby the boys, who were close enough to be affected. First responders believe the lightning ricocheted and struck Jaden and Isaac, causing them to lose consciousness and collapse.
"When I looked over there, Isaac was laying down face first, head down. And Jaden was over there. I just remember screaming, ''Somebody, my boys, my boys, my boys.' And I started screaming for my brother to come out," she said. "I thought I had lost my boys. It's the worst feeling ever. I would never wish that on anyone.”
As neighbors rushed to help, her brother Carlos was the first to desperately check for vitals.
“Completely knocked out, unresponsive. I called to them, I asked for them to squeeze my hand," he said. "Until I started massaging my younger nephew's chest is when he first blinked at me and made a motion to try to speak to me. He wasn’t able to speak to me. He knew that I was there and every time that I called his name, he reacted to it. I continued calling his name.”
MedStar EMS crews responded immediately and rushed the brothers to Cook Children's Medical Center. Doctors say that Jaden was primarily impacted by the lightning and likely suffered a cardiac arrest. The lighting ricocheted from Jaden to Isaac.
According to Cook Children's, the boys were transferred to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit by Thursday morning, with their mother and family at their side as they rested and played video games.
“They are in a little bit of pain, not a whole bunch," said Carlos. "They’re more tired, kind of and drained from the experience."
Jessica said they are still processing what happened to them. The boys said they don't remember what had happened and they were feeling OK.
"I woke up in an ambulance and I guess I fell asleep and I woke up here," said Jaden. "[I'm] pretty good. Apparently, I died last night and came back to life."
Taylor Louden, M.D., Medical Director, Pediatric Emergency Medicine at Cook Children’s Medical Center, said that parents should be cautious and keep their children indoors when there is a severe weather threat or thunder and lightning.
“The boys came in altered and confused," Louden said. "These boys are very lucky. We're glad everyone came out OK in this instance."
If someone is fatally struck by lightning, cardiac arrest is the immediate cause of death. Louden said it is crucial for a lightning strike victim to receive CPR as soon as possible or use an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED). Witnesses should call 911 immediately.
“Fortunately, lightning strikes are very rare, but we do have to be aware [of storms], especially in Texas where storms can come out of nowhere quickly," Louden said. "Even if storms are in the distance, you're still at risk.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the odds of being struck by lightning in a given year are less than one in a million and almost 90% of all lightning strike victims survive.
After their brush with Mother Nature, Jessica has a message for other families.
“Don't let their kids outside when it's thundering," she said. "I know it's a one-in-a-million chance, but you never know, you might be that one. It was two for me."
