Amber Escudero-Kontostathis was left with red scars up her body after being struck by lightning (Picture: The Washington Post via Getty)
A charity worker who was struck by lightning opposite the White House has described the moment 950 million volts hit her.
Amber Escudero-Kontostathis was in Washington DC last August when six bolts of lightning hit the spot she was standing on in just half a second – killing three others.
The 28-year-old’s nerves were completely fried, her heart stopped and her watch melted to her wrist.
Brooks Lambertson, 29, and James and Donna Mueller, 76 and 75, were killed in the freak weather event.
All four were hiding under a tree during a storm, which was hit by a bolt of lightning.
Following the incident Amber suffered through a ‘traumatic’ recovery and still struggles with survivors guilt.
She told the Washington Post: ‘However much pain I’m in, I try to hold on to the fact that I’m the lucky one, the one who gets to feel anything at all.
‘I didn’t survive because of a miracle, I survived because good people, complete strangers, ran towards danger in the middle of a storm to save me.’
She was stood beneath a tree opposite the White House when the lightning struck (Picture: Reuters)
Amber said the moment she was struck it was like a mechanical gear was spinning inside her ankle – which was the direct point where the initial strike entered her body.
For weeks Amber said she would spend hours screaming as the pain was so great.
She also had to spend hours scrubbing her painful wounds to avoid the risk of infection.
Amber has described the painful recovery process (Picture: NBC Washington)
Nearly a year on Amber still has no feeling from her lower back to he upper thigh, and she can’t sense where her legs are going.
She also experiences both burning and freezing sensations at random times in the day, feeling like ‘grains of sand are trying to squeeze through the pores of her skin’.
The lightning has left red marks along her chest, which have been likened to the roots of a tree.
‘However much pain I’m in, I try to hold on to the fact that I’m the lucky one.’
