Fort Worth kids hit by lightning are recovering. ‘I thought I had lost my boys,’ mom says
The two children who were struck by lightning Wednesday are recovering and talking in the Cook Children’s Hospital ICU, according to a news release from the hospital.
Isaac Martinez, 7, and Jaden Alvarado, 13, were outside playing Wednesday afternoon when lightning struck a nearby tree, ricocheting and striking the two boys, according to the hospital and the Fort Worth Fire Department.
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“It looked like fireworks were coming down the tree,” their mother, Jessica Martinez Alvarado, said in the hospital’s news release. “I saw the boys lying on the ground when the fireworks stopped. ... I thought I had lost my boys. It’s the worst feeling ever. I would never wish that on anyone.”
The two boys were taken to the hospital in critical condition. Doctors said Jaden was impacted the worst, most likely going into cardiac arrest after the lightning strike, according to the news release. The strike first hit Jaden then ricocheted to Isaac.
Fire crews were dispatched around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday to the 10000 block of Iron Ridge Drive, according to the fire department.
By Thursday morning, the boys were transferred to the pediatric ICU, where they were playing video games and resting with their mother by their sides, according to the hospital. The boys don’t remember what happened and said they’re feeling OK.
Martinez Alvarado said the boys were outside playing in the rain when she noticed the lightning was getting more intense, according to the news release. She was about to go tell them it was time to go inside when the lightning struck.
“Don’t let their kids outside when it’s thundering,” she said in the news release. “I know it’s a one-in-a-million chance, but you never know, you might be that one. It was two for me. Be very, very careful with your babies. Make sure you hug them and kiss them and hold them tight.””
Martinez Alvarado’s sister, Ida Herrera, has set up a GoFundMe to help cover expenses while the boys’ mother is staying with them in the hospital and not working.
“My nephews were recently impacted by a lightning strike and we would like to raise money for them and my sister,” Herrera wrote. “Due to this freak accident, she will be not able to work to tend to her children.”
As of Thursday evening, about $200 had been donated. The fundraiser’s goal is $5,000.
Doctors at Cook Children’s Hospital said that while lightning strikes are rare, they can seemingly come from nowhere and can be fatal. If it’s raining and thundering, keep the kids indoors.
This story was originally published April 27, 2023 at 8:38 PM.