The families of the two teens who were struck by lightning on Clearwater Beach talked about that frightening incident for the first time from Tampa General Hospital on Wednesday.
- Family grateful for 'guardian angel' nurse
- Lightning strike happened Tuesday at Sand Key
- Teenage victims still being treated
"They said no one survives that -- the kind of hit that the boys took," said Claudette Tabor, the mother of Jansen Tabor, 18.
The mom said the lightning strike, at Sand Key near the Lighthouse Towers Condos at 4:24 p.m. Tuesday, temporarily paralyzed Jansen and caused Cameron Poimboeuf, 15, to have a heart attack.
"My son was struck on the right leg, because he had paralysis on his right leg for about an hour afterwards," Tabor said. "Then, of course, Cameron went into cardiac arrest."
Cameron's dad, Kevin Poimboeuf, said he's very thankful for Cassandra Thomas, a pediatric nurse, who ran down 16 flights of stairs to perform CPR on the teen and helped to get his pulse back.
"My family is extremely grateful for this guardian angel who was there to witness this and to give CPR to my son," he said. "We're blessed by the grace of God that Cameron's still here."
Poimboeuf said he was encouraged that Cameron was able to squeeze his hand and give him a thumbs up at the hospital.
"The doctors are very happy with the progress. His vital signs have been enormous, enormous improvements," he said. "He's in excellent health. He's a strong fighter. So, he's not going anywhere."
Tabor said her son is expected to make a full recovery.
"Jansen is going to be fine," she said. "We hope that he won't have any residual side effects from it. He may have to have a stress test at some point just to check his heart."
The Tabor family said they were on vacation from Charlotte, North Carolina, and Cameron came along for the trip because he's dating Jansen's sister.