A Dorchester woman who was struck by lightning more than a month ago received applause when she left Boston Medical Center.
A young woman who was struck by lighting at Savin Hill Beach last month was released from Boston Medical Center Wednesday and is expected to make a full recovery.
Thalita Teixeira Padilla was struck by lightning while walking her dog along the beach on Sept. 9. Within minutes, she was receiving CPR from Tracy Cronin, an ICU nurse who happens to live nearby.
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Cronin heard the thunder and could see Teixeira lying on the ground from her house before rushing out to help.
"I prayed and I hoped and I wanted an update on her so badly. And it's just amazing. Really amazing," Cronin said. "CPR works. It really does."
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The doctors and nurses at Boston Medical Center credit Cronin, in large part, with saving Teixeira's life. Trauma Chief Tracey Dechert said Wednesday she didn't know if this day would ever come, since Teixeira spent two to three weeks on the edge of life.
"You could not be sicker than she was. I mean, that's as sick as you can get," Dechert said. "The fact that that nurse was next to her is amazing, because she would have died."
Teixeira's family said every day in the hospital was a battle. As an ICU nurse herself, they say she knew what signs to look for, like responding to commands.
"It was very traumatic," brother Andre Teixeira said. "Even though she was overcoming the odds, it was kind of like no breaks until right now, to be honest."
Thalita Teixeira Padilla left Boston Medical Center in an ambulance Wednesday and went to Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, where she will undergo rehab over the next several weeks. Now that she's on the road to recovery, her family says she's thinking about her future.
"She's already talking about maybe using this time to go for her master's while she's in recovery," Andre Teixeira said. "That kind of explains where her spirit is at, and when she's like that, we're like that."
