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TAYLORSVILLE — A father and daughter who were struck by lightning are now recovering at home.
Scott and Chloe Robinson were at the Territorial Statehouse State Park Museum in Fillmore on June 20 as part of a youth conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“We got to go swimming, got to play a couple of pioneer games as a group, had dinner,” Chloe said. “Just the very instant before, I was just trying to play croquet with my dad, standing right under the big tree, probably standing on the roots,”
Storm clouds had gathered on the horizon, but no one there expected lightning could be so close.
“It was just the most immense — the flash and the clap and the big sonic boom was really a sound I’ve never heard before,” said Dave Kotter, who was there to help organize food. His day job, though, is as a nurse practitioner with training in critical care.
Both Scott and Chloe were on the ground after getting struck by lightning. Kotter tended to Chloe, keeping her airway open, while others performed CPR on Scott. Chloe regained consciousness, but was disoriented. Scott was in worse shape.
The pair were both airlifted to the University of Utah Hospital. Chloe was released last weekend, and Scott started to come around after that.
“I just had the benefit of essentially waking up Monday or Tuesday and saying, ‘I’m fine. What happened?’” Scott said.
As Scott and Chloe return to normal life at home, they’re reflecting on how lucky they are to be in such good shape.
“It’s a miracle that we’re here. It’s just a miracle,” Scott said. “I’ve really got to chalk it down to the faith of those that gave those blessings, the faith of my family, everyone pulling for me,”
“(It) motivates me to kind of, reach out and develop those friendships a little bit better because it would have been so hard if we didn’t have all these relatives we love in town, if we didn’t have all these people looking out for us,” Chloe said.
Chloe said she is looking forward to her second chance at the future. She has already scored a 36 on the ACT and said she will certainly be able to draw on this experience for an entrance essay to college.
