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Woman who survived lightning strike near White House that killed 3 opens up on her 'miracle'

Amber Escudero-Kontostathis was in front of the White House doing field canvassing and fundraising for IRC when the deadly strike occurred

WASHINGTON, DC: A lightning strike, across the street from the White House on the night of August 4, killed three people. But Amber Escudero-Kontostathis, the only sole survivor, got saved from the six bolts of the lightning strike. However, she says, “I don't feel good about being the only survivor, that's for sure. I'm grateful, but I just don't feel good about being the only one."

It was Escudero-Kontostathis' 28th birthday when she got struck by lightning in Lafayette Park. She was in front of the White House doing field canvassing and fundraising for Threshold Giving, a nonprofit organization through the International Rescue Committee that helps refugees. In an exclusive interview with ABC's 'Good Morning America', Escudero-Kontostathis opened up the details of the deadly strike. She told, "I don't remember much of that day at all. I don't know why I survived. I don't feel good about being the only survivor, that's for sure. I'm grateful, but I just don't feel good about being the only one. She further said she doesn't remember much of her stay at the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital but she does remember the nurses telling her that everything is going to be okay. "You would hit the little things saying you were in pain and they'd be like 'we're coming,' and they walk in and their name was always on the board. I had more of a personal relationship and memory with the burn center nurses, but I'm excited to eventually get to meet the ICU nurses in person again now that I'm more conscious of that," she said.

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The road to recovery

Escudero-Kontostathis, who was getting ready to start her Master's program at Johns Hopkins, shared that it has been frustrating, both physically and mentally. She said, "I forget that I can't just get up and do stuff. I have to use a walker, for example. You wake up and you think that you can just get up and go and brush your teeth or get a cup of coffee yourself and I can't, my whole left sides like pretty charred. Mentally, also a little frustrated because I want to be working and doing things."

The woman, who's the director of Threshold’s DC canvassing team, expressed, "I get to help people find their inner activist and bridge them to the work they want to see in the world. Not getting to do that every day is probably more painful than cleaning the burns, which is pretty painful."

Who were the victims?

Two of the victims, James Mueller, 76, and Donna Mueller, 75, of Janesville, Wisconsin, were there to celebrate their 56th wedding anniversary. The third victim, Brooks Lambertson, a 29-year-old Los Angeles man, was in DC for business.