Two Families Count Blessings After 4th Of July Lightning Scare

CHICAGO (CBS)—A Plainfield teenager was counting his blessings Thursday after surviving a Fourth of July scare.

An 18-year-old man and a 4-year-old girl were critically injured in a lightning strike just before the Fourth of July fireworks show Wednesday in far southwest suburban Sheridan, a small town about 65 miles southwest of Chicago in LaSalle County.

Dawson Fuller, the 18-year-old victim, was recovering at Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital in DeKalb on Thursday. Fuller only wanted family members to visit his hospital room, but he texted with CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker.

He was at Robertson Field for the fireworks when a tree he was standing next to was struck by a lightning bolt.

Fuller said the electric charge sent him flying through the air.

He said he's experiencing head and neck pain, and that he's still shaken.

Spectator Brianna Hoops was also at the park when the storms broke out. The sudden intensity of the thunder and lightning took her by surprise.

"It was one of the loudest thunder claps I've ever heard in my life," Hoops said, describing the moment the lightning hit the tree, splitting the bark from the base and sending electricity shooting through the ground.

A 4-year-old girl, Nova Esparza, was also struck by lightning at the park was taken in critical condition to Children's Hospital of Illinois in Peoria.

Her aunt told CBS 2 that her condition has improved. The aunt, who requested that he rname not be used, said her hospital stay is expected to last another five days.

"She opened her eyes and said 'love you daddy,' and then went back to sleep," the aunt said.

Plainfield Firefighter Eric Watkins just happened to be at the field with his family when he heard her mother scream.

"She was in full cardiac arrest," Watkins said. "I knew she was sick and needed CPR."

St. Charles firefighter Darin Peterson, who was also off duty, administered CPR to Fuller.

"As soon I saw him on the ground, I knew he was bad," Peterson said. "I felt the jolt from the strike and my hair stood up. I quickly positioned him and gave him two breaths."

Dawson described Peterson and the paramedics who helped save him as his "heroes."

"It was brave and very selfless of them to step in when I needed them the most," Fuller said in a text. "I will be forever grateful for everything they did for me to keep me alive and to wake up next to my family this morning."