HEARTBREAKING 911 AUDIO CAPTURES MOMENTS AFTER 8-YEAR-OLD GIRL IS STRUCK BY LIGHTNING — HER NURSE MOM’S DESPERATE FIGHT TO SAVE HER HAS LEFT PEOPLE IN TEARS One ordinary afternoon of playing outside turned into every parent’s worst nightmare when an eight-year-old girl was struck by lightning just steps away from her cousin in the family’s backyard. In an instant, laughter gave way to panic as those closest to her watched the unimaginable unfold before their eyes. But it was what happened in the frantic moments that followed that has left countless people heartbroken. As her mother—a nurse—rushed to her daughter’s side, she desperately fought to bring her back, refusing to give up even as precious seconds slipped away. The emotional moments that followed have become the most devastating part of an already unimaginable tragedy. Now, a heartbreaking recording from the emergency call is giving people a glimpse into the chaos, desperation and love that filled those final moments. It’s a story that isn’t only about a lightning strike—but about a mother’s desperate determination to save the little girl she loved more than anything.

TRAGIC ACT OF NATURE 

Girl, 8, killed by lightning playing in backyard 4ft from cousin with nurse mom desperately performing CPR to save her

An image collage containing 1 images, Image 1 shows An 8-year-old girl in a white dress with fruit patterns and red trim, smiling at the camera on a balcony overlooking the ocean

A SUDDEN lightning strike killed an eight-year-old girl as she climbed off a backyard swing just feet from her horrified relatives.

Her nurse mom desperately performed CPR on her own daughter, but the youngster could not be saved.

An 8-year-old girl in a white dress with fruit patterns and red trim, smiling at the camera on a balcony overlooking the ocean.
Kinslee Tschida, 8, was killed by a sudden lightning as she was climbing off her backyard swingCredit: Family Handout
A man with glasses and a headset taking a selfie with a smiling young girl in a vehicle.
Her grandfather Chris Scheib said the strike came just seconds before she would have reached safetyCredit: WLS

The freak tragedy unfolded at a family home in rural Serena, Illinois, on Friday, July 3.

Kinslee Tschida had been playing on the swing with her cousins when the family heard thunder rumbling nearby.

Her uncle immediately told the children to leave the yard and head inside the house, which was about 20 feet away.

Kinslee was getting down from the swing when lightning suddenly tore through the area.

“Kinslee was just climbing off, and all of a sudden, in an instant — I mean, there was no warning … It came right in between the tree,” her grandfather Chris Scheib told WGN-TV.

Scheib, who helped raise Kinslee, said the strike came just seconds before she would have reached safety.

“In 5 or 10 seconds, she would have been fine,” he told WLS.

Another of Scheib’s granddaughters was standing less than four feet from Kinslee but was not injured.

Other family members were also nearby and witnessed the devastating strike.

Kinslee’s mother and uncle immediately began CPR as they fought to keep her alive.

An 8-year-old girl, Kinslee Tschida, wearing a Krispy Kreme hat.
Kinslee’s mother and uncle immediately began CPR as they fought to keep her aliveCredit: Family Handout

 

Man in a RealTree hat cries into a tissue, with a blue headline "8-YEAR-OLD GIRL KILLED BY LIGHTNING" below him.
Kinslee’s grandparents and other family members witnessed the devastating strikeCredit: WLS

“They did try CPR. My son and my daughter – on her own daughter – and being a nurse, you know she took that real hard. She can’t save her own daughter,” Scheib said.

“Basically, there’s nothing else you could have done.”

Emergency crews rushed Kinslee from the home to OSF St. Elizabeth Hospital in Ottawa.

She was later pronounced dead from her injuries.

The La Salle County Coroner’s Office told The Post that an autopsy was carried out on Sunday.

Officials said a formal cause of death is expected to be determined within four to five weeks.

“It’s unfathomable, it’s unrealistic, it’s hard to grasp,” Scheib said.

Kinslee was due to begin third grade at Rutland Grade School this fall.

Her family remembered her as a joyful child who loved singing and dancing, WGN-TV reported.

A GoFundMe has been launched to help her relatives pay for medical and burial expenses.

“You try to muddle through it, I guess. I never had to deal with this in my life until now, and it’s changed me. I think we’re all broken,” Scheib said.

Kinslee is believed to be the fourth person killed by lightning in the US this year, according to the National Lightning Safety Council.

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