A woman is recounting her experience following Tuesday's lightning strike that injured her and others at Lake Murray in South Carolina.
Eighteen people were hospitalized, including 12 children, when lightning struck near Columbia, South Carolina, according to a spokesperson for Lexington County.
Other WRAL Top Stories
Tagen Billiot said she is lucky to be alive.
"[I was] taken aback, it took me a second once we got off the ground, like 'Holy cow, something happened,'" Billiot said.
The 22-year-old said it was a beautiful afternoon with a blue sky and beating sun that brought her family to the lake.
Hours after their arrival, the scene changed.
"All of a sudden it was just loud, just like a very loud crash," Billiot said. "It was like your ears rang and then it was just this numbing feeling and then it's like, 'Holy moly, what happened?'"
According to the Irmo Fire District, lightning struck and hit a metal cable with buoys on it that was built to keep swimmers and boaters separate from one another for safety.
"It was like everything froze," Billiot said, describing the sharp pains that ran through her body.
"When everybody came to the realization, it was like one quick thing ... [we] rushed out of the water," she said.
Billiot described chaos -- children screaming, parents running and uncertainty looming overhead. She knew she needed medical treatment.
"I start throwing up, I'm like, something's wrong, like I really need something," Billiot said. "I was buckled in and then all I knew was I heard them say, 'We are 10 minutes ETA,' and then it just went black, everything just went completely black."
Billiot woke up in the hospital after hours of testing. She was hospitalized overnight because she had no feeling in the left side of her body.
"It was very scary to know that I couldn't feel my body," Billiot said. "My first thought [was], 'Am I paralyzed? Am I going to be able to feel this again? Like how am I going to to live my life daily, how am I going to do things?' [It] was very scary to know that was a possibility."
WCNC Charlotte reports Billiot suffered injuries that left her numb on one side of her body, with an irregular heart rhythm, memory loss, blurred vision and an inability to walk. She was discharged Wednesday morning after being able to walk, but will be on bed rest for a week.
Billiot said she now has a different mindset about life.
"I'm just so lucky, [I] feel so good to know that I am here and I can see my nephews grow up, it just makes me so happy, it was just scary," she said.
A spokesperson for the utility company who owns the beach said safety is their top priority; however, it's unclear if the lightning strike will result in any changes to policies regarding the beach and its buoys.