Nurse Struck by Lightning Leaves Hospital After More Than a Year: 'Feels Like I Was Born Again'

"I am starting to think about the future for the first time in this whole year, and it seems very new still," said Thalita Teixeira Padilla

Last fall, Thalita Teixeira Padilla was struck by lightning while walking her dog. After more than a year spent in hospitals, she is getting back to her life — and feels like she's been "born again."

Padilla — who was struck on a Boston beach, thrown into the air and aided by a nurse living nearby on Sept. 9, 2023 — was discharged from Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital on Thursday, Sept. 19, according to ABC 10 .

Formerly a nurse herself, Padilla was first admitted to Boston Medical Center in critical condition — she suffered burns, nerve damage and an injury to her spinal cord — and spent several weeks on the "edge of life," a hospital official previously told ABC 10.

"I was crying so much because I don't want to lose my daughter, but she is strong," Padilla's mother, Marcia Teixeira, recalled to the Boston outlet.

In October, Padilla was later transferred to Spaulding, where she continued her recovery — and slowly learned to walk again.

"It was amazing to watch, she was incredible to work with," Norah Sweeney, a physical therapist at Spaulding, told ABC 10, adding that Padilla "works really hard."

"She was not able to walk independently when she came from in-patient and now she is out walking, going places by herself," Sweeney added.

Padilla's recovery reached a turning point about two months ago, she told ABC 10, when all of a sudden she "started to feel less pain" in her body.

"Something went off like a lightbulb in my head," she said of the moment.

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Now experiencing less pain and able to move with the help of a walker, Padilla was discharged on Thursday, and told ABC 10 she hopes to return to work as soon as possible.

"I am starting to think about the future for the first time in this whole year, and it seems very new still," said the former nurse, who plans to move to Connecticut.

"It feels like I was born again, it feels like starting a whole new life," she added.

Padilla's dog, Bruce, meanwhile, went missing after she was struck last fall, but was later found and returned to her family.

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