Woman Struck by Lightning in Boston Out of Rehab After a Year
A woman struck by lightning in Boston has finally been discharged from a local rehab hospital after being there for over a year.
In September 2023, Thalita Teixeira was struck by lightning while walking her dog. NBC10 Boston reported at the time that Padilla and her dog were on a beach boardwalk with another dog walker when a lightning bolt struck the area where they were standing. The lightning threw Teixeira onto the beach, and she was unresponsive.
After being treated at Boston Medical Center, Teixeira was then taken to Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. While there, Teixeira had to relearn how to walk due to the spinal cord injury she sustained. Teixeira also had nerve damage and burns on her chest and legs.
Teixeira was at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital for a year, but she was finally discharged and is currently able to walk with the assistance of a walker.
Teixeira told NBC10 Boston, “I am starting to think about the future for the first time in this whole year, and it seems very new, still. It feels like I was born again, it feels like starting a whole new life.”
What’s next for Teixeira? She’s moving to Connecticut and is aiming to return to work as a nurse.
According to the CDC, the odds of being struck by lightning are one in a million. About 90% of people struck by lightning survive. While it is very unlikely to be struck by lightning more than once, the current record of someone being struck by lightning is seven.
There are states in the U.S. that have seen more people struck by lightning than others. The CDC notes, “Florida, Texas, Colorado, North Carolina, Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Missouri, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania have the most lightning deaths and injuries. Florida is considered the ‘lightning capital’ of the country, with more than 2,000 lightning injuries over the past 50 years.”
There are some interesting facts related to people being struck by lightning in the United States. For example, men are four times more likely to by struck by lightning than women, with the average age of lightning victims being 37. Deaths related to lightning are most common in the summer months, with July being the month with the most frequent lightning deaths from 2006-2021.
Despite lightning being outdoors, about one-third of injuries related to lightning happen indoors. When outside, certain activities are more prone to lightning strikes, including fishing, boating, playing sports, and relaxing at the beach.