A video emerged of lightning striking a Minnesota family vacationing in Central Florida, knocking their teenage daughter unconscious and leaving her hospitalized, according to WKMG.
Mila Yang, 12, was celebrating her birthday Aug. 14 with her family at the Sebastian Inlet in Brevard County when the incident occurred, WKMG reported.
Video footage of the incident aired by WKMG showed Yang’s aunt speaking happily as she recorded the video of them on the beach, with Yang’s mother in the background. Suddenly the lightning bolt struck and the two women fell to the ground. Yang was not in the frame because she was in the water.
“When I saw her in the water, I called her and said, ‘baby come back, that’s too far.’ Then suddenly a thunderstorm,” Yang’s mother, Nalee, told WKMG.
Moments after falling to the ground, the two women saw Yang unconscious in the water.
Yang suffered severe burns and injuries and had to be taken to the AdventHealth Children’s Hospital in Orlando, where she is making a slow recovery and will remain hospitalized for several months, according to a GoFundMe page created for her. Yang may need round-the-clock care for the rest of her life, doctors said, per WKMG. (RELATED: ‘Felt Like My Arm Got Blown Off’: Lightning Strikes 15-Year-Old Lifeguard, ‘Orange And Blue’ Surrounds Her Limb)
“We didn’t know anything about Florida. All we know is just [that] a lot of people come, take the kids, vacation at the beach or Disney. We didn’t know anything about thunderstorms,” Nalee said.
Yang’s uncle, Doua Lor, flew in from Iowa upon learning of the incident.
“We were just heartbroken. It’s just like a dream that we never expected. And even now today it’s like a dream, but it’s reality,” he said. “Hopefully someday we will meet the people we didn’t know who have donated, saying a prayer for our family that we can personally thank them.”
Donations on Yang’s GoFundMe page stood at nearly $36,000 at the time of this report.
There were thunderstorm alerts on Aug. 14 across Florida. Picnic shelters and contact with water, among other things, must be avoided during a thunderstorm, per the National Weather Service.