Teen Mom-to-be Hit By Lightning
Taylor Lawson
A 19-year-old pregnant woman was in critical condition Thursday after she was struck by lightning.
Taylor Lawson was visiting friends when storms rolled through their Bedford neighborhood. She was hit by lightning at about 7:30 as she stood outside the home in the 1000 block of Stableway.
Paramedics rushed Taylor to a nearby hospital to get her heart re-started. Then they transported her to Parkland Hospital.
"She took a pretty direct hit," said her uncle, Dwayne Lawson. "It went right through her. She lost her baby."
Brandon Chisum, who lives next door, said he heard the moment the lightning hit.
"(The lightening was) really loud, really close," he said. "What I heard was a loud pop, sizzle, pop, kind of thing."
The state of Texas has one of the highest mortality rates, due to lightning strikes, in the country, said Dr. Brett Arnaldo with Parkland Hospital's burn unit. He said an individual can be struck by lightning from a storm ten miles away.
"There's no where outside that is safe from lightning," Arnaldo said. "So what you need to do is when a storm pops up, you need to get inside, you need to get indoors, and you need to do it right away."
As Taylor fights for her life her uncle said he still believes she will be okay, knowing it’s a miracle that she's alive.
"She's a fighter and she's up there fighting right now," Lawson said.
He said ever since Taylor was a little girl he knew she was special.
"She's just a wonderful kid,” he said. “She's always been a very outgoing, outspoken, beautiful, very intelligent little girl."
Taylor's family has set up a fund to help with her medical costs. Donations to the Taylor A. Lawson Medical Fund are accepted at any Bank of America location.
Posted Friday, Aug 28, 2009 - 6:53 PM CST
