WASHINGTON — There were many people who helped revive and treat the only survivor of the lightning strike near the White House. One of them was Dr. Taryn Travis.
As a burn surgeon at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Travis took care of Amber Escudero-Kontostathis after she was hit by intense lightning with three other people underneath a tree at Lafayette Square, nearly two weeks ago.
Medical professionals have been amazed by not only her survival but her seemingly speedy recovery.
"It's really remarkable she survived at all," Travis told WUSA9. "The amount of energy she was exposed to was really incredible. She had tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands to millions of volts, so we are just in a totally different ballpark than what we see normally as clinicians at a burn center with domestic and industrial wiring."
Escudero-Kontostathis is still covered up with bandages on the left side of her body to cover the severe burns. She also must rely on a walker as she experiences needling pain in her lower body.
She spent days in the trauma center followed by the burn ICU and acute recovery units.
While the physical marks of the injury are evident, how the lightning strike will affect her neurologically in the long term is still unclear.
"The other effects of lightning are things we don't know that well," Travis said. "I think that what happens with Amber in the future will really inform us what we can expect from other people who have this problem."
"I feel really awful but also grateful to be here," Escudero-Kontostathis told WUSA9 in an interview on Tuesday. "Even when I'm crying in pain, I'm constantly reminding myself that I'm lucky. I'm not sure why I'm the one that made it."
Travis said there is no way of really knowing exactly why she was the only person to survive. However, there are a variety of reasons that may have at least contributed including the CPR she received from two traveling nurses visiting the park at the time.
Escudero-Kontostathis said she was under chest compressions for up to 40 minutes and was revived twice.
"I really have no words, they're the most amazing people," she said.
Other possible factors included being a healthy and young person, physics from the lightning strike, hospital care and some luck.
She stressed how many victims who survive are not directly hit by lightning, but feel the effects through the transmission of electricity.
The incident is another important reminder of why people should learn how to administer CPR and use a defibrillator.