Baby delivered by emergency C-section after her pregnant mother was struck by lightning still has STATIC HAIR a year on

  • Kimberly Gordon was in the womb when her mother Kendra Villanueva was struck by lightning on July 4 last year
  • Villanueva was rushed to hospital for an emergency C-section
  • Kimberly, one, is lucky to be alive, but can't sit up, crawl or digest food
  • Doctors said only 11 pregnant women on record have been struck by lightning, with only half of newborns surviving

By Daily Mail Reporter

Published: | Updated:

She's the 'little Flash Gordon' who miraculously cheated death.

Kimberly Gordon was delivered by emergency Cesarean section a year ago after her mother was struck by lightning in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

But not only did the one-year-old survive the electrical jolt, she now has static hair.

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Static hair: Little Kimberly Gordon, pictured with her dad Ian Gordon, was born after her mother was struck by lightning. She now has static hair

Static hair: Little Kimberly Gordon, pictured with her dad Ian Gordon, was born after her mother was struck by lightning. She now has static hair

Doctors, specialists and her parents all call Kimberly Gordon, 1, a medical marvel.
Kimberly Gordon

Medical marvel: Doctors say it's a miracle Kimberly Gordon, one (pictured left as a newborn, and right) survived a lightning strike which hit her pregnant mother and has left her with static hair

'Everybody we've seen says it's a miracle she's alive,' her father, Ian Gordon, told KOAT. 'She's just kind of a play-it-by ear baby.'

On July 4 last year, Gordon and his 38-weeks-pregnant girlfriend Kendra Villanueva were watching the Independence Day fireworks when they were hit by a bolt from the blue.

ABC News reported the thunderbolt traveled through Gordon's ear before jumping to Villaneuva's body and leaving through her thumb.

'They were both awake and looking at us. They were dazed and confused,' Lt. Ryan Perry of the Albuquerque Fire Department told KQRE.

'But we knew that there were underlying injuries that we possibly couldn't see that we needed to treat quickly and get them to the hospital.'

The pair were rushed to the University of New Mexico Hospital, where Villaneuva was induced and gave birth to little Kimberly. She was two weeks out from her due date.

Heartbreaking: Kimberly Gordon (pictured) was born by emergency C-section in July last year after her mother was struck by lightning

Heartbreaking: Kimberly Gordon (pictured) was born by emergency C-section in July last year after her mother was struck by lightning

Parents: New Mexico couple Kendra Villanueva and Ian Gordon (pictured) were struck by lightning last year

Parents: New Mexico couple Kendra Villanueva and Ian Gordon (pictured) were struck by lightning last year

Two days after that hair-raising zap, Villaneuva wrote on Facebook: 'What a fouth of july got hit with lighting now in the hospital...sucks and i hope my baby is going to start doing better alot of electricity for a little baby (sic).'

More than a year on, Kimberly still has neurological damage from the lightning strike. She can't sit up, crawl or digest food properly.

Doctors also don't know when she will begin to walk and talk as the case is so unusual. It is not clear why the child's hair is still static.

'It's hard seeing she can't eat like she's supposed to and can't have food yet, just through the [feeding] tube. But other than I'm glad she lived through it all,' Villanueva told KOAT.

Miracle baby: Little Kimberly is lucky to be alive after her mother Kendra Villanueva was struck by lightning while pregnant

Miracle baby: Little Kimberly is lucky to be alive after her mother Kendra Villanueva was struck by lightning while pregnant

However doctors said it was extraordinary that the little girl could survive such a shock.

According to IBTimes, an emergency medical technician who treated Villanueva and Gordon said there have only been 11 incidents on record of a pregnant woman getting struck by lightning. Of those, only half of the newborns survived.

And according to the National Lightning Safety Institute, there is a 1 in 280,000 chance of being struck by lightning.

'Somebody's definitely watching out for us,' said Gordon, who dubbed his daughter 'little Flash Gordon' after the 1930s comic book hero.

He hopes his miracle baby 'will run fast, or save the universe'.

Scene: Couple Ian Gordon and Kendra Villanueva were struck by lightning while standing under this tree in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in July last year

Scene: Couple Ian Gordon and Kendra Villanueva were struck by lightning while standing under this tree in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in July last year

Injury: Kendra Villanueva said the thunderbolt traveled through her body and leaving through her thumb which was bloody (pictured last year after July 4 strike)

Injury: Kendra Villanueva said the thunderbolt traveled through her body and leaving through her thumb which was bloody (pictured last year after July 4 strike)

There have been other sensational cases of pregnant women giving birth to healthy babies.

In April 2012, Ohio's Kelly Lough was struck as she was getting into her husband's car, but doctors said the rubber soled shoes she was wearing saved her life. Doctors said her unborn child was safe.

In January 2012, Jezebel reported Stephanie Alberti was 13-weeks-pregnant when she was hit at the racetrack. Six months later, she gave birth to a healthy six-and-a-half-pound baby girl named Sophia.




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