As parents, we would do anything for our children. And Lisa Prehn is living proof.
Last July, her 23-year-old daughter, Brittney, survived a direct lightning strike to her head.It happened at Country Thunder Music Festival in Kenosha County.
Doctors tell Brittney she is a medical miracle for surviving a direct hit to her head and for how well she is recovering. We've been following her story for nearly a year now.
We first met Brittney in September as she was starting her journey to recovery. She tells us that since then, her hearing is improved with a new hearing aid and cochlear implant, and she's even driving now. Brittney and her mom also travel to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota about twice a month.
It's a 4.5-hour drive from their home in Illinois. Lisa Prehn tells our Susan Kim that "seeing your daughter, how she is now versus how she was, you're grateful she's alive."
Brittney's alive and getting stronger. But the medical problems continue, such as panic attacks, loss of memory and even feeling in her body. Lisa says Brittney "could get a cut, even if it's severe, it would bleed out and she wouldn't know it. She would not feel it." Those are all things that make a mom very worried. The unknowns about the future weigh on Lisa.
"Will she be able to finish school, will she find someone who will oversee things? Can she have kids? You don't know. As far as they know, yes, but because of the electricity, there's no way of knowing until she tries."
Because of the unknowns, Brittney's parents are converting their basement into an apartment. Despite these exhausting challenges, the family has enjoyed life, too. Lisa, Brittney and her three sisters went to Country Thunder in Florida last month.
"Will she be able to finish school, will she find someone who will oversee things? Can she have kids? You don't know. As far as they know, yes, but because of the electricity, there's no way of knowing until she tries." — Lisa Prehn, about her daughter Brittney
They even met Toby Keith and Luke Bryan. Lisa says "it actually hit me that in reality, there should only have been three of my kids in that picture."
Brittney still has months of medical appointments scheduled at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.
Because she's already beat the odds once, Lisa says Brittney thinks she could defy them again, saying "she plays the lottery all the time," buying tickets in Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota on their way to her medical visits at Mayo. The family still has a GoFundMe account to help with Brittney's medical expenses.
Lisa would like everyone to know the money donated so far has helped the family so much with medical bills and also hotel stays during their twice monthly trips to the Mayo Clinic.
