© My Fox AustinA neighbor saw the couple's house get struck by lightning and told the family the bolt went from underneath the house and through the roof, leaving noticeable damage
A teenager was left shocked and temporarily unable to walk after she was
struck by lightning while opening the refrigerator inside her Austin home.Macie Martinez was reaching for an apple sauce when lightning struck her home and passed through the kitchen's appliances.
Misty Villarreal, Macie's mother, was in the living room when she heard what sounded like an explosion, and then a loud gut-wrenching scream.
Villarreal said her husband, Anthony, pulled Macie off the fridge and held her while she 'screamed and screamed and at the same time shook', she described on the family's GoFundMe page.
All the lights in the house had gone off when the lightning struck and Villarreal panicked as she was unable to see if her daughter was bleeding.
'I was shaking, screaming, crying because I was so powerless,' she wrote. 'I couldn't help my child.'
Macie described the moment, which happened on Memorial Day, as the 'most painful thing' she has ever experienced in her life.
'Afterwards, I couldn't feel my legs, and I couldn't walk and I was just shaking,' she told
My Fox Austin.
Forty-five minutes before lightning struck, the family was getting reading for a night of movie-watching and playing cards after a tornado warning was lifted and they were able to leave their pantry.Now they were rushing Macie to the hospital.
© My Fox AustinDoctors also found a fern-pattern rash (pictured) consistent with lightning burns on Macie's left shoulder, where they believe the electricity exited her body
Villarreal said the doctors ruled that Macie had suffered from
secondary electrocution and temporary paralysis.
Since Macie did not go into cardiac arrest when she was electrocuted, they believed her heart was fine and ran an electrocardiogram test to confirm.
Doctors also found a fern-pattern rash consistent with lightning burns on Macie's left shoulder, where they believe the electricity exited her body.
Similar burn marks also appeared on Anthony's arm, which Villarreal said he got from taking Macie off of the fridge and holding her.
Anthony told My Fox Austin he didn't even notice the burn until he came home from the hospital, but has since felt 'some sort of pain' and that his right arm 'gets tingly'.
© My Fox AustinSimilar burn marks also appeared on Anthony's arm (pictured), which Villarreal said he got from taking Macie off of the fridge and holding her
Macie has been experiencing the same tingly feeling and her mother said she is exhausted 'most of the time' and also 'a bit frightened to go near appliances or plug anything into outlets'.
Her doctors diagnosed Macie with ulnar nerve damage and believes she is showing signs of PTSD. They are monitoring her liver and kidneys.
A neighbor saw the couple's house get struck by lightning and told the family the
bolt went from underneath the house and through the roof, leaving noticeable damage.
The lightning strike also left the home's major appliances fried, burned two marks above a mirror in one of the bathrooms, and separated sections of the downstairs wood flooring from their foundation.
The family plans to install lightning rods and a surge protector in their house and said the accident has completely altered their perspective on storms.
'It's a change,' said Macie, who feels 'lucky' and 'blessed' to be alive.
'Normally, I'd go outside in the rain, but now it's like oh my gosh, there many be a storm I need to stay inside. I need to be safe. Stay in bed.'
Villarreal said she will be following the example of her grandmother in West Virginia.
'Every time a storm rolled in she would unplug everything and we all thought she was crazy,' she said.
'But I will tell you, I will be the crazy one now unplugging everything.'
Had a similar event take place in my home here in Florida. On an overcast day with a light drizzle no reports of lightning, I was subject to a lightning strike. I was sitting on a metal bar stool with my feet up, on the computer in a part of the house that had no direct lighting from outside. All of a sudden my vision went completely white and had this strange sensation run through me. I jolted backwards and when my vision came back I saw a beam of light exit my hand (which was still on the mouse). Feeling all of what I had just gone through (or what went through me for that matter) I stood up, and at that point I had this force of energy eject me off my feet. The last thing I recall was flying through the air. I woke up on the floor stunned and dazed 10 feet away from the stool I had just stood up from. I go to move, and I cant. My limbs and body were completely stunned. After a few moments it started to fade, with the mobility of my right arm starting to come back I crawled forward, I suppose in an attempt to get the rest of my body going...
I never called the ambulance, guessing maybe I should have now... There was no damage to the roof of the house, and the circuit breaker never tripped. Also, i'm typing this on the computer that I was using at the time of the event (did have to buy a new optical mouse because of the strike.)
Heaviest thing I've ever experienced and very fortunate to still be alive.