Aaron Walenga is praising a group of four runners who pulled his wife back from death after lightning struck the Florida couple as they walked hand in hand.
Aaron, 48, and Clare Walenga, 43, had just dropped off their three children at church when they set out along the West Orange Trail in central Florida on Sept. 2. The Apopka residents heard no warning signs of an approaching storm before the bolt hit them both.
Charlotte Sachetti Weyand and Amber McManus were nearby when the strike occurred and immediately called 911. Michael Weyand, who was with the women, saw that Clare’s skin had turned blue and sprang into action despite having no medical training.
“I’ve never seen anybody that color in my life before,” he told WKEG. “I checked to see if she was breathing and she wasn’t.”
“I’ve never done CPR before in my life. But in that moment, I knew I had to start,” he told WHSV. “Instinctually I started to CPR, which instinctually is not something I do every day.”
Clare took a massive breath just as mouth-to-mouth resuscitation was about to begin, following the chest compressions Michael Weyand administered. Tiffany Roby, the fourth member of the running club present at the scene, struggled to put the moment into words. “I don’t know how to describe the feeling,” she said.
Aaron Walenga could only watch in agony, unable to reach his wife of 17 years. “I wanted to get to Clare, and I just couldn’t get up,” he told WKEG. “I couldn’t really move, and I was in the worst pain of my life.”
Both spouses survived and were hospitalized. Clare suffered a concussion while Aaron sustained bruises on his face.
The couple have expressed profound gratitude toward the four runners who happened to be on the trail at that exact moment. “There were so many miracles that we witnessed from Claire being brought back to life to, the four of you being there on that trail at that time,” Aaron said Saturday.
Clare echoed her husband’s sentiment about the second chance they received. “The gift of life that we have is just so beautiful,” she said.
Relatives provided an encouraging update on Sept. 4, two days after the incident, reporting that Clare had made significant progress in her recovery. “We have seen God answer so many prayers, and Clare and Aaron have come a long way in such a short amount of time,” the family said. “We remain hopeful and thankful as they continue on the road to recovery.”
A fundraiser established for the couple has raised more than $65,000.
The lightning strike came amid a troubling pattern of fatal incidents across Florida and beyond in recent months. Matthew Jenkins, 20, died earlier this month after being struck just days after moving to the state for the Disney College Program. Utah father Steve Matheson was fatally injured while helping Florida boaters in distress at sea. Last month, Kenya Glasgow, 31, and her two-year-old daughter Kennedi were struck in front of their husband and father.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that the annual odds of being hit by lightning are less than one in a million, and that nearly 90 percent of victims survive.