A BRITISH mum who was brought “back from the dead” after a near-fatal lightning strike on a Croatian beach has been identified and pictured.
Daniella DiMambro, a physiotherapist from Nottingham, is now fighting for her life and being airlifted back to the UK for life-saving treatment.
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The 48-year-old was struck down by a lightning bolt in front of her terrified daughter the Saturday before last at Kašjuni Beach in the sunny tourist destination of Split, Croatia.
The extremely rare, million-to-one strike held 300million volts of power and immediately knocked Daniella unconscious.
Miraculously, a hero medic nearby helped paramedics battle to restart the mum’s heart with cardiac massage and the kiss-of-life.
Daniella was then rushed to the local KBC hospital and treated for her horrific burns, head injuries and the damage to her internal organs.
She remains in a medical coma and doctors are monitoring her for life-altering injuries like brain damage from the strike.
Her family fear she may never work again but they are grateful she is alive and thanked the first responders on the scene.
In fact, one medic even reckoned that Daniella’s necklace saved her life by conducting the voltage through her body.
Luckily, she is well enough now to be transported home to the UK where her treatment will continue.
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Daniella has now been identified as a qualified physiotherapist with her own practice in Nottingham.
She was holidaying in an apartment in Croatia with her 19-year-old daughter, named locally as Amelia, and young son when the disaster struck.
The mum and daughter were running for cover off the beach when a sudden storm swept across the outskirts of Split.
A relative told the Daily Mail: “She will be flying home, which is obviously a relief but we just don’t know what sort of condition she is in.
“She is no longer sedated but she is still in a coma and the doctors in Britain will assess her and then let us know about internal injuries and any brain damage.
“She is still in a serious condition and we are all very concerned, as her heart stopped for 30 minutes following the lightning strike but she was saved by the paramedics and a doctor who was on hand. We are all very grateful to them for what they did and the hospital has been very good.
“As soon as she is back in England she will be taken straight to hospital where she will be undergoing tests and then we will get some idea of the situation.
“All we can do is hope and pray things are ok and the internal injuries are not extensive.”
The relative also praised her daughter’s incredible strength during the freak accident.
They said how brave Amelia had been dealing with insurance, hospitals, and police alone, in a different language.
She was badly burned and was covered in tubes. It is simply awful.
A relative of Daniella’s
They said: “She spent all the time by her mother’s bedside in intensive care. She was badly burned and was covered in tubes. It is simply awful.
“Daniella will fly on a medical flight to East Midlands airport and be taken to a specialist hospital in the area.
“We just don’t know what the outcome will be. She may come round or she may need long-term help and never work again.”
Previously, Professor Sandra Stojanovic Stipic, from Split’s KBC Hospital, gave an update on Daniella’s condition.
She said: “The woman is in a medical coma and we are monitoring her continually.
“She was very fortunate as the lightning hit her head and the necklace took the energy through her body.
“At the moment she is being ventilated and in the next few days we will carry out an MRI scan to check the condition of her brain and if there is any neurological damage.
‘We have never had a case like this in Split and we are hoping that she recovers but at the moment she is in a very severe condition.
“She died when she was at the beach as her heart stopped but thanks to the good work of the medical teams who were nearby they brought her back to life.
“It was their actions that saved her life. The work of the first responders was fantastic, they massaged her and it restarted, there was no heartbeat but they got it going.”
About 240,000 lightning incidents happen each year with around 2,000 people being killed worldwide.
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