WINTER GARDEN, Fla. (WSVN) — A couple struck by lightning in Central Florida are sharing their survival story.
Clare and Aaron Walenga are still alive today after their near-death experience on a trail in Winter Garden on Sept. 2.
“This gift of life that we have is just so beautiful,” Clare said.
The Walengas said they are forever grateful for the four good Samaritans who rushed to help them.
“I get to, you know, be your wife and the mom to my three precious children, and it’s because of your actions that you took,” Clare said.
Clare and Aaron said they usually go for walks on Wednesday nights after dropping their children off at a church youth group.
On the day of the incident, Aaron said, he checked a weather app and noticed a storm brewing on the other side of town.
“We couldn’t see any of the lightning or, I don’t remember hearing any of the thunder, and so we decided to walk back,” he said.
Charlotte Sachetti Weyand and Amber McManus said they had just passed the couple on the trail when the lightning struck.
“Sparks kind of came off of it along the way, which we could see in our peripheral vision, and so then we turned around,” McManus said.
Weyand said she immediately called for help. Aaron remembers being down on the ground after falling face first.
“I couldn’t move my limbs. I couldn’t respond the way I wanted to,” Aaron said. “I wanted to get to Clare, and I just couldn’t get up. I couldn’t really move, and I was in the worst pain of my life.”
The good Samaritans said Clare had stopped breathing, and she appeared to turn blue.
“Instinctually, I started to CPR, which instinctually is not something I do every day,” said good Samaritan Michael Sachetti Weyand. “I’ve never done CPR before in my life, but in that moment I knew that I had to start.”
The Walengas only spent a few days in the hospital. The wounds on Aaron’s face are healing, and Clare has overcome short-term memory loss from a concussion. They are leaning on their faith during the road to a full recovery.
“There were so many miracles that we witnessed, from Clare being brought back to life to the four [good Samaritans] being there on that trail at that time,” Aaron said.
The couple said they will eventually return to the trail once they are ready, and they plan to keep in touch with their rescuers both on and off the trail.
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