Survivor of lightning strike reunites with rescuers

July 27 started out as a typical Sunday for Robert Kilroy, a 56-year-old off-duty seasonal Los Angeles County lifeguard and a chiropractor. The Marina Del Rey resident went to his favorite spot in Venice Beach and was chest-deep in the ocean teaching his daughter Emily Kilroy, 15, how to surf. Suddenly, a rare bolt of lightning from an unexpected summer storm struck the beach, injuring numerous people and tragically killing one young man. The next thing Kilroy knew, he woke up in the Emergency Department at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. What transpired that afternoon was a series of events that led to Kilroy’s remarkable survival and the opportunity for him and his daughter to reunite Thursday on Venice Beach with the men and women who played a role in his recovery. Robert Kilroy and his daughter Emily hug at a press conference, attended by Jena Lewis, a nurse and prehospital care coordinator at Reagan UCLA Medical Center, and others who cared for him. What Kilroy does not remember from that day is being electrocuted after the bolt of lightning splintered from the sand into the water. His heart stopped, he went down and his lungs filled with ocean water. Emily saw her dad floating, in full cardiac arrest. Pulling him to shore, she yelled for help. Immediately, first responders from the Los Angeles County Fire Department Lifeguards started CPR, which got his blood circulating and his heart pumping again. The Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics inserted a breathing...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news