Florida Paramedic Rescues Lightning Strike Victim

Hit by lightning with her 2-year-old child in her arms, a local mother talked for the first time Wednesday about what happened and what she remembers about it all.

Terri Hoag was released from the hospital Wednesday. She was walking to a neighbor's house in DeBary on Friday night when the bolt of lightning struck nearby, sending thousands of volts of electricity through her body.

Hoag said she has no memory of what happened on Friday. She walked with her 2-year-old in her arms over to her neighbor's to have ice cream when, with no warning at all, she was struck by lightning.

"My body actually got shocked and it was traumatic," she said.

Hoag said it was barely drizzling when, out of the blue, lightning hit nearby and traveled through the ground. She was shocked and fell on her 2-year-old son Logan, who she was carrying. Then she started to turn blue.

"Oh, I was blue. That I knew. I was completely blue. It wouldn't have been much longer after that. I wouldn't have made it," she said.

Hoag's neighbor Dale Stevens, who she and Logan were going to have ice cream with, came running out. Lucky for Hoag, Stevens is a firefighter and paramedic. He knew exactly what to do.

"Cause she was turning blue and no pulse. And she wasn't breathing or moving. No movement whatsoever. And her pupils, it was scary," Stevens said.

Another neighbor, Carlos, stopped to help and, together, Hoag's two neighbors saved her life.

"Thanking them doesn't even, I mean, what do you say to someone who saved your life?" Hoag questioned.

Hoag said she has no memory of what happened, just stories her neighbors tell her and some black marks on her body to show her what happened.

"I have one on the hip, and one on my leg and I've got one under my eye. It has kind of seeped up underneath," she said. "It hasn't all sunk in yet. It really hasn't."

Terri Hoag stressed the importance of learning CPR. She is certified and, because her neighbor was certified, when she was struck by lightning he was able to save her life.

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