Teen who was struck by lightning at Phoenix-area park speaks out
Aug 19, 2018, 4:26 PM | Updated: 7:23 pm
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PHOENIX — A teenager who was struck by lightning during a monsoon storm in a Phoenix-area park earlier this month gave an interview to ABC News last week, in which he joked that he is waiting for his “powers” to kick in.
Josiah Wiedman, 13, was seriously injured and placed in intensive care after he and a friend were struck by lightning at an El Mirage park on Aug. 8. The other boy was not seriously injured.
“As we were walking, I got struck … sending me 9 feet into the air, making me bounce on my head and then flip over to my back,” Josiah told ABC News.
“All I remember is just a little bit of heat — but barely.”
Josiah told the television station that the majority of what he remembers from that night is from what others have told him.
“I really don’t remember what happened, but I [have] people telling me what happened,” he said.
“I was skateboarding and [it happened] just like that.”
Josiah, who was not identified by police at the time that the first reports came out, was not expected to survive his injuries.
He suffered a fractured skull and concussion and was placed into a drug-induced coma for three days.
He was discharged from the Phoenix Children’s Hospital last week, but still is expected to have a long recovery ahead.
In a post on a GoFundMe page for the boy, his aunt Danielle Castaneda said her nephew will miss at least two weeks of school and will need speech and occupational therapy.
The GoFundMe had raised more than $4,200 of its $5,000 goal by Sunday afternoon. Castaneda said the money will “will help with the hospital stay and some of the co-pays of the specialist and therapist.”
Josiah said the experience gave him a new lease on life.
“I’m going to try to live my life a bit more because I know it can end at any time,” he said.
“I haven’t felt my powers yet but I will soon.”