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This is the story of my lightning brother, Nathan Loyet. He was 13 at the time of his strike, (I belive the young man is now 18) and is very very lucky!
In many ways, this is his family's story as well, as they has gone above and beyond along with Nathan's friends and family to make sure that this extrordinary young man has every chance possible of not only recovering from the damage done by the lightning, but also enabling him to function "normaly" in the world.
Nathan has Tourettes Syndrome, as do his siblings, but you would never know that there was anything wrong with them. In my eyes, there IS nothing wrong with them, they are normal, healthy, well adjusted kids, and Becky and Paul deserve a BIG pat on the back for that!
From my point of view, not only is Nathan a hero, but also his brothers Matt and Brandon, his sister Erica, and his mom Becky and his dad Paul.
I have never met such genuinely caring and loving people in my 33 year walk on Turtle Island!
Nthan's mom Becky, is an electric shock survivor, who was completly unaware of this fact for many years, but has finaly made the connection, and has begun her own healings.
Her husband Paul, has embarked on a journey in the search for knowledge, and I respect him very deeply for that. It is not an easy path to follow, but Paul has a good spirit, and heart, and I think he will do well as he learns to walk the rocky red road.
This is Nathan's story as told from his mother Becky's perspective...
On Friday, August 23, 1996, around 6:00 p.m., I left our home to take my 7 year old twins, Brandon and Erika, to a birthday party. The party was to be a swimming party at an indoor swimming pool, but first we had to go to the birthday child's house. I left Nathan, then 13, and Matthew, then 9, at home and told them I would be back shortly.
As I began driving, I noticed the sky was starting to look cloudy and could tell a storm was approaching. After driving approximately one mile, the sky turned green and looked very threatening. My first thought was a tornado was approaching. Since I was closer to our destination than our home, I quickly decided to take refuge there and immediately called Nathan on my car phone and told him a tornado may be approaching, to take Matthew downstairs away from the windows, and to stay off the phone in case of lightning. He asked if he could check on our two cats and I said okay, but hurry. Our cats are not house cats but live in our three-car attached garage. I thought he was going to just look in the garage to see that they were there but later found out his intentions were to bring the cats in the basement.
Suddenly the wind picked up and a severe thunderstorm arrived as we drove up to the home. We sat in the car for a few moments. We were parked near a huge tree and I was comtemplating the safest thing to do. I feared that we would be struck by lightning if we stayed in the car sitting near the tree; but, if we ran through the storm to the house, we still had to pass under the tree to get there. I decided to run for the house, leave them there, and return to the car to get home to Nathan and Matthew. Where we live was an open field (approximately 10 acres) two years before when we built our new home so there were no trees or power lines. Our house was literally the highest peak in the area. I later found out that there had been many lightning strikes in the area over the years.
As I returned to my car, the car phone was ringing. It was my mother, calling to say that our home alarm had gone off and she was on her way over after receiving a call from the Barcom alarm company. She was crying but I just assumed she was worried that the boys were home alone and thought they were scared.
What had actually happened was Nathan had gone into the garage and immediately found one cat and brought her into the house, then went back out to find the second one. He found her hiding under the workbench and as he bent down to pick her up, the back door (which had not been latched), blew open, and as it blew open, Nathan reached up with his right hand to close it just as lightning struck the door. He remembers not being able to let go of the door as he saw a bluish bolt of lightning enter his right hand, go up his arm, travel across his chest, and exit his left shoulder. He was then thrown back into the chair and workbench and fell. We do not know if he lost consciousness but if he did, it was only momentarily. His arms were numb, he could smell a burning smell (which we later were told was the smell of static electricity). At the time he wasn't sure what had happened since he had also been right next to the circuit breaker in the garage. He was afraid to come back into the house because he thought maybe the house was somehow electrified and didn't want to touch the door knob. He finally was able to move his hands enough to open the door and Matthew, having heard a loud bang, was waiting at the door and asked him what had happened. Nathan said he had been electrocuted and Matthew thought he was teasing him until Nathan told him to help him lift his shirt and they saw the burns where the lightning had traveled. Nathan told Matthew to call 911, but when Matthew tried, the phone was dead. When the lightning struck the house, it also struck the alarm system and most of the electrical appliances in the house. The alarm system actually was blown out of service (and one of the window contacts had melted onto the window) but when that happened it automatically called in a panic alert to the alarm company on the phone line and that's why the phone was temporarily dead. They knew they needed to get help and thought Matthew would have to run down the road in the storm for help, but they were fearful of the lightning.
Once again they tried 911 and the phone was again working. The operator asked what was the emergency, and was told Nathan had been electrocuted, and dispatched an ambulance. Barcom then called to ask what was going on since the alarm called in. Nathan and Matthew do not remember the conversation but the Barcom operator said Nathan was screaming that he was on fire to call his mom. Nathan told Matthew to get the American Red Cross First Aid book to see what they should do until the ambulance arrived. He also told him to open the front door for the paramedics. He told Matthew not to get near him because he didn't know if Matthew would get shocked from him.
The alarm company called my car phone first, but got no answer as that was the time I had taken the twins into the party. Second on the call list was my mother, third was my husband's parents, and fourth was my aunt. My in-laws were not home, so after my mother they called my aunt. What my mother didn't tell me was that Nathan had been struck by lightning and she thought he was dead and didn't want to tell me. What I thought happened was that the boys had set the burglar alarm, and if you set the alarm during a severe storm, the thunder usually will set off the glass breakage and the alarm will sound. The alarm company will then call, and dispatch the police if necessary. Even though I was worried about the boys being scared, I was a little annoyed because I thought they had set the alarm knowing they were not supposed to when it stormed. I then called home, thinking that the police were there for a false alarm. Matthew answered and I said I would be home in a few minutes, to let me talk to the police. Matthew said the police weren't there but the paramedics were because Nathan had been electrocuted. At that point I could hear Nathan talking in the background and I then thought they were playing a prank on me. I said to let me talk to Nathan, and also something to the effect that you guys are really in trouble when I get home.
Dave Barton, one of the paramedics and a good friend, then got on the phone and said he thought from what Nathan had described, that he had been struck by lightning. He said his chest and arm was swollen and burnt and that his blood vessels looked as if they were going to burst through his skin. He said his heart appeared fine, he was on oxygen, and that they were going to take him to the emergency room. It really didn't sink in what had really happened. I guess I thought someone had made a mistake because I thought if you get struck by lightning that you would be instantly killed.
It was still storming really bad. As I was near the hospital, I told them I would meet them there. I then called my husband on his car phone and told him to not ask me any questions but Nathan had been struck by lightning, he was alive, and to meet us at the hospital. Of course, he started asking questions, and I hung up so I could concentrate on driving in the dangerous conditions. My husband was then frantically driving to the hospital and trying to call me back at the same time. I couldn't answer the phone because it took all of my concentration to just drive.
As they left our home and drove down the road, they discovered a creek had overflowed and the road was flooded. They were barely able to get through. As the ambulance arrived, Matthew was smiling and happy because as Robin Thorp was monitoring Nathan in the back of the ambulance, Dave was letting Matthew run the siren. He kept Matthew calm and not fearful during the ride there. When I saw Nathan, his chest and arms were brown and swollen, and I could see his blood vessels pulsating. It was an unbelieveable sight. The paramedics said that he looked much better than when they had first arrived, that they had never seen an injury like that before. The emergency room doctor ran various tests, including EKG, took x-rays, urine tests, and couldn't find anything seriously wrong with Nathan. As we were sitting there waiting, Nathan was talking about a teacher he had in 6th grade, Bob Detering (Mr. D). He said, "You know mom, Mr. D always said not to buy lottery tickets because you have a better chance of being struck by lightning then winning the lottery. I'm going to have to call him when we leave here." After three hours, he was released from the emergency room with a note to return to school on the following Monday (his first day of school) that said: "Struck by lightning, may return to school. Take 2 Tylenol every 4 hours for pain as needed". Well, on the way home, I stopped and bought Nathan 5 lottery tickets. Mr. D was right. You do have a better chance of being struck by lightning!
The Way Out Of Here
