By Dal Cannady - bio | email
EVANS COUNTY, GA (WTOC) - The Pinewood Christian Patriots take to the football field Friday night.
But many thoughts will be on 14-year-old Dalton Raulerson who was hit by lightning at football practice two weeks ago.
His heart stopped on the football field but coaches, EMTs and others didn't give up and saved his life.
His parents didn't find out what happened until they made it to the hospital.
"She said what happened. I said I don't know. He's probably broken another bone," said Dalton's father Lawrence Raulerson when the heard the news his son had been taken to the hospital.
"Someone at the hospital told me his heart stopped beating for seven minutes," said his mother Tanya Raulerson. "I remember thinking he's probably brain dead. That's before I knew they did CPR."
Pinewood coaches performed CPR and used a defibrillator to keep oxygen to his brain until help arrived to restart his heart. The Raulersons are grateful to them and everyone else.
"You know they say it's just their job," said Lawrence. "But there's times people go way beyond their job."
And they've been overwhelmed by the support from Pinewood families and beyond.
"They sent their prayers and I believe with all my heart that's what did it," said Lawrence. "That's what pulled Dalton through it."
Dalton has no memory of what happened. His parents have explained his miracle, gradually.
"We sat him down and said you had a really close call," said Tanya. "The coaches played a big part in you being here. Last night, we finally told him his heart didn't beat for seven to eight minutes.
"We've gotten calls at the house of people saying this is so and so and I'm glad God brought him home to you," said Tanya. "And we don't even know them."
As he catches up on his studies, he and his parents know they've all learned a much bigger lesson.
"Prayer is a powerful thing and I know without a doubt higher powers were involved in my child coming back to us," said Tanya.
Lightning detectors at the practice field gave no warning of any storm nearby. Dalton may lose some hearing from the strike, but otherwise he shows no permanent damage.
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Tanya, Dalton and Lawrence Raulerson (Source: The Raulerson family)
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