Lightning Bolt Strikes 4-Year-Old, Mother

Aug. 11, 2008 — -- When Elizabeth Larson stood outside her Henderson, Nev., home with her son to videotape an incoming storm last Thursday, she did not realize just how close to the action she was going to get.

The video shows the storm rolling in and then, suddenly, the camera drops to the ground. Elizabeth and her son had been struck by a powerful bolt of lightning, leaving her partially paralyzed and her son unconscious.

"I remember a white flash," Elizabeth recounted in an interview today with "Good Morning America." "The next thing I remember is seeing him laying there flat and I knew something was wrong. I ran around and I just said, 'Sean, Sean.' I went and tried to pick him up and that's when I noticed I had no use of my arm. I was paralyzed."

She continued, "Everything is like in slow motion -- like a nightmare. And I just thought, 'Oh my gosh, I'm not going to get him back.'"

Without hesitation, Elizabeth scooped Sean up with her one good arm and took him into the house while trying to shake him back to life. She then yelled for her other son, 14-year-old Evan, to call 911.

Older brother Evan kept it together in the middle of chaos and called 911."Everyone is crying. ... I'm telling everyone they need to calm down," he said

After emergency responders arrived at the house, Sean regained consciousness before being taken to the hospital.

Once there, doctors told Elizabeth that she may have literally brought him back from the dead.

"The doctor told me [the lightning] stopped his heart. Most likely the shaking I was doing brought his heart back," she said.

According to doctors, the lightning bolt hit Sean above his left eye and exited through his left foot, earning him the nickname "Harry Potter" in the hospital for the fictional character who has a lightening bolt symbol on his forehead.

Elizabeth, who was diagnosed with temporary paralysis, and her son have both made a full recovery.