Virginia woman struck by lightning speaks on near-death experience

AMELIA COUNTY (WRIC) — An Amelia County woman is recovering after being struck by lightning.

As thunderstorms made their way to Central Virginia on Thursday, August 29, resident Taylor Hayes said she was in her home, lying on her couch, when lightning hit the house.

Hayes said she was holding her cell phone, which was plugged into the wall, to her chest at the time. That’s when a jolt of lightning hit her chest, immediately throwing her to the ground.

“I could feel my heart racing, really fast — and I was so cold,” Hayes said. “My friend said my skin was hot, burned to the touch, and she could feel the current running through me.”

Hayes said she can barely remember what happened after that.

Hayes’ friend, Shawnte Barley, was in the house at the time of the strike. She said Hayes experienced six seizures. Barley immediately called 911 — but the situation became overwhelming when the dispatcher told her to apply CPR.

“The dispatcher said, ‘You’re going to have to start compressions,’ and I went into panic mode,” Barley said.

As Barley panicked over her friend’s current state, an unlikely person stepped in to save Hayes’ life: Barley’s 17-year-old daughter, Zakiyah Greene.

“I told my mom to just move out the way so I could start,” Greene said. “So I got on top of Taylor and I put two hands on her chest. And every time the dispatcher would say, ‘one, two, three, four,’ I would push down at that time.”

After several tries, Hayes eventually gasped for air — just in time for first responders to take her to Chippenham Hospital in Richmond.

Hayes continues to recover from this terrifying experience.

“When you stick something into the socket and it has that little spark? Getting shocked was like that, times 20,” Hayes said, trying to describe how it felt in terms the average person could understand.

She went on to describe the lingering side effects she continues to deal with — including short-term memory loss.

“I have trouble breathing — my head has been hurting for days,” Hayes said. “I’m sore from the CPR and the strike on my chest.”

Hayes also cannot drive in her current condition.

However, her near-death experience has her giving thanks to Greene when she needed it the most.

“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Zakiyah,” Hayes said. “She has never even learned CPR or done it before, and she was able to be calm, and she was so resilient. They coached her through it, because it’s not something that you can just learn over the phone. I’m just so proud of her and thankful and I love her.”

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