Camper Ethan Kadish Still Critical After Being Hit By Lightning
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Ethan Kadish, the only one of three campers still hospitalized after being struck by lightning Saturday at a Jewish camp in Indiana, remains in critical but stable condition.
The 12-year-old from Cincinnati requires help with his breathing and needs his chest cleared, according to his family, who set up a website, Caringbridge.org/visit/ethankadish, to provide updates on his condition.
“Ethan continues to work with his medical team on recovery,” the Kadish family wrote. “We want to let all of you know that his recovery is going to take time.”
The three campers were hurt when lightning struck without warning at about 1:30 p.m. on Saturday during an Ultimate Frisbee game on the athletic field of the Goldman Union Camp Institute in Zionsville, Ind., the St. Louis Jewish Light reported. The other two children injured were Lily Hoberman, 9, of Missouri and Noah Auerbach, 9, of Kentucky. All three campers were admitted to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.
It was not raining, nor was there a storm in the area at the time of the lightning strike, Indianapolis Police spokesman Kendale Adams told reporters.
Lily’s mother, Michelle Hoberman, credited a staffer at the camp with saving her daughter’s life.
“One young man, a wilderness specialist at the camp from Pittsburgh, administered CPR and shocked Lily back to life. He was the angel who saved her,” Hoberman told the St. Louis Jewish Light. “Another young man from Cincinnati, Ohio, a college student, was there to assist him.”
Hoberman said the expected Lily to make a full recovery.
The families of the injured are setting up a fund to be used to support continued medical training for staffers and provide medical equipment and supplies, Hoberman told the newspaper.
Several hundred children in grades 3 through 12 are in residence at the camp, which is affiliated with the Reform movement.
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