When Amber Escudero-Kontostathis regained consciousness days after she was struck by lightning, she had a nasty feeling that there have been different victims.
Washington
She was the only one to survive a lightning strike. She wonders why.
“I simply bear in mind studying an article and being like, ‘There isn’t a method,’ ” she mentioned in an interview Tuesday with The Washington Submit. “However then I checked out photographs of the older couple.”
Officers say Escudero-Kontostathis had ended up huddled with the couple — Donna Mueller, 75, and James Mueller, 76 — and 29-year-old Brooks A. Lambertson, a financial institution official on the town from Los Angeles, as a storm rolled in on Aug. 4. However Escudero-Kontostathis mentioned her final reminiscence was speaking with the Muellers, who have been in D.C. to have fun their 56th wedding ceremony anniversary, earlier that day.
Escudero-Kontostathis approached them as a part of her work with the Worldwide Rescue Committee, canvassing the realm for donations to assist refugees in Ukraine. They bonded over the Muellers’ dwelling state of Wisconsin, the place Escudero-Kontostathis had lately traveled for a household reunion, and the fun of visiting the Inexperienced Bay Packers stadium, Escudero-Kontostathis recalled.
She really useful that they take a look at the Nationwide Museum of African American Historical past and Tradition and Planet Phrase whereas in D.C.
The subsequent factor she knew, Escudero-Kontostathis mentioned, she was mendacity in a hospital mattress, with IVs puncturing her physique. An image of the Muellers was now flashing on her iPad. They have been killed, the article mentioned. In some way, she was nonetheless alive.
Within the days since lightning struck at Lafayette Sq., Escudero-Kontostathis has discovered to reside with second-degree burns down her left aspect that really feel like “10,000 grains of sand try to get by way of every pore on the similar time.” However the guilt of surviving the lightning strike that killed the Muellers and Lambertson haunts her.
Escudero-Kontostathis mentioned she can not bear in mind the minutes earlier than the strike, however she worries that she motioned for the Muellers to affix her below a tree to hunt shelter from the rain.
“My greatest concern is that I referred to as again out to them,” she mentioned. “I couldn’t reside with myself if that’s the case. It’s my greatest concern, that it’s as a result of I needed to say ‘Hello’ yet one more time earlier than they left.”
She feels comparable pangs about Lambertson, a vice chairman at Metropolis Nationwide Financial institution. Escudero-Kontostathis mentioned she doesn’t recall interacting with him that day, however she has since discovered that they share mutual pals from California.
“I’ve this guilt of, ‘Why did I make it?’ ” she mentioned. “I attempt to calm myself with gratitude of, ‘Nicely, I did, so I’m not going to waste it.’ ”
The 4 victims of the lightning strike have been introduced collectively by happenstance — three out-of-towners and Escudero-Kontostathis, standing collectively not removed from the president’s dwelling.
It was Escudero-Kontostathis’s twenty eighth birthday, and it was nearing time for her birthday dinner on the Hamilton when the storm rolled in.
Earlier than 6 p.m. that day, she declined a name from her sister-in-law and nieces, who needed to want her a cheerful birthday.
“At work Rn @thewhitehouse ! Dinnertonight tho!” she wrote from her Apple Watch.
She then acquired out her telephone and took two photos of the sky, with darkish clouds approaching.
“Went from feeling like 105° all day (actually primarily based on my climate app) and now right here comes thunder,” she texted her sister-in-law, including a laugh-crying emoji.
About an hour later, she and the three others ended up sheltering from the pouring rain below a tall, leafy tree about 100 ft from the statue of Andrew Jackson, officers have mentioned. Specialists recorded a lightning flash within the space as six particular person surges of electrical energy hit the identical level on the bottom inside half a second.
“It shook the entire space,” an eyewitness informed The Submit. “Actually like a bomb went off, that’s the way it sounded.”
All 4 have been taken to a hospital. Authorities quickly revealed the Muellers had been killed. So, too, had Lambertson, whose dad described him as “most likely the perfect human being I do know.”
Escudero-Kontostathis’s coronary heart additionally stopped, along with her husband 12 minutes away from choosing her up for dinner. However two nurses visiting the White Home on trip rushed to assist. They carried out CPR on all 4 victims, alongside legislation enforcement.
It’s unclear why solely Escudero-Kontostathis survived.
Quite a few storms with frequent lightning flared within the area that Thursday night, with temperatures within the mid-to-upper 90s earlier within the day.
Specialists warn that standing below a tree in such situations could be harmful. When a tree is hit by {an electrical} cost, moisture and sap simply conduct the electrical energy and carry it to the encircling floor, in keeping with a Nationwide Climate Service webpage on lightning science.
If the electrical energy struck the tree first, specialists mentioned, tons of of hundreds of thousands of volts would have handed by way of the tree earlier than touring into and over the our bodies of these beneath it.
Escudero-Kontostathis, whose time educating English within the Center East impressed her to assist these suffering from struggle and poverty, thinks her footwear may need helped save her. That day, she was sporting sandals with thick rubber soles, which she mentioned she believes may have absorbed a few of the electrical energy.
She wore those self same platform footwear again to Lafayette Sq. on Monday, when “Good Morning America” filmed her reuniting with the nurses whom she credit with saving her life.
Underneath blue skies, Escudero-Kontostathis stood on the grassy park outdoors of the White Home, utilizing a walker. Jessee Bonty and Nolan Haggard, the emergency nurses from Texas who carried out CPR on these injured within the blast, walked towards her.
“Hello, I’m Jessee, can I provide you with a hug?” mentioned Bonty, who two weeks in the past had felt Escudero-Kontostathis’s hand grip hers earlier than dropping its pulse on two separate events.
“Hello, I’m Amber. Sure, please,” Escudero-Kontostathis replied, earlier than wrapping her bandaged arms across the girl who saved her.
That evening, Escudero-Kontostathis and her husband went to the Hamilton for the birthday dinner she by no means had. They introduced Bonty and Haggard with them.
“We’re actually besties now,” she mentioned. “They are going to be in my life perpetually.”
William Wan contributed to this report.
.jpg/wellness%20(1).jpg?VersionId=74z63282ohhuj13ZpM1baSYhD3O2ov.C "Employers set to put more pressure on wellbeing vendors to improve outcomes, survey finds")
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Washington Capitals’ Alex Alexeyev pepper-sprayed by police, charged with public intoxication – WTOP News
Alex Alexeyev of the Washington Capitals has been charged with public intoxication following a fight in Arlington, Virginia, early Saturday morning, police said.
A Washington Capitals player has been charged with public intoxication following a fight in Arlington, Virginia, early Saturday morning, police said.
Arlington County police said Alex Alexeyev, 25, of Arlington, was arrested around 3:30 a.m. in the 3100 block of Clarendon Boulevard after a patrol officer deployed pepper spray on the Capitals defenseman.
Police said officers on patrol in the Clarendon area were flagged down by a witness who reported “an active fight outside a business” between Alexeyev and another person.
A first-round pick by the Capitals in the 2018 NHL Draft, Alexeyev made his NHL debut in 2021.
Alexeyev’s contract with the Capitals expires this summer and he’s slated to become a restricted free agent, according to CBS Sports.
The Carolina Hurricanes ended the Capitals’ season last week.
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Denzel Washington snaps during heated exchange with photographer on Cannes red carpet: ‘Stop!’
Don’t mess with the Equalizer.
Denzel Washington was caught getting into a tense exchange with a photographer at France’s Cannes Film Festival on Monday, May 19.
The Oscar winner, 70, looked fired up when he approached the line of shutterbugs at the world premiere of Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest,” in which Washington stars.
He was talking to Lee, 68, and being approached by A$AP Rocky, 36, who also stars in the film, when one photographer decided to grab him in an attempt to get the A-lister’s attention.
The move appeared to set Washington off because the “Gladiator II” actor decided to confront him.
Firmly pointing his finger in the photographer’s face, the actor repeatedly screamed “stop” as he approached the man.
Ignoring Washington’s concerns by laughing in the award winner’s face, the star continued shouting at the man.
When the superstar turned around to walk away, the photographer grabbed his arm, provoking Washington to snap.
Pulling his arms from the cameraman’s grasp, Washington showed the man he meant business.
“Stop it!” the actor shouted, with the veins popping from his neck. “Stop!”
The Post reached out to Washington’s rep for comment.
Washington didn’t let the heated altercation keep him down, though.
He was surprised at the Cannes Film Festival with an honorary Palme d’Or honor from inside the theater before the film’s premiere.
After showing a reel of his legendary career, festival chief Thierry Frémaux addressed the crowd to give Washington the prestigious honor.
“It’s a very special day,” he said, per Deadline. “Denzel, because you are here, we want to make something special for you … it’s a kind of way for us to tell you our adoration, what you have done in cinema. Nobody knows about that except Spike Lee, who wrote me to do that.”
Lee walked up to the stage with Washington to present the coveted award to his dear friend.
“This is my brother right here. I love him, I love him. I’m glad you’re here where all the people love you too,” Lee told him.
“This is a total surprise for me so I’m a little emotional, but from the bottom of my heart, I thank you all,” Washington said to the crowd. “It was a great opportunity to collaborate with my brother once again — brother from another mother, Spike.”
“To be here once again in Cannes, you know, we’re a very privileged group in this room that we get to make movies and wear tuxedos and nice clothes and dress up and get paid for it as well,” he added, prompting laughter from his peers. “You know, we’re just blessed beyond measure, I’m blessed beyond measure, and from the bottom of my heart, I thank you all. Thank you.”
“Highest 2 Lowest” is a thriller and the English reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 Japanese movie “High and Low.” The latter was loosely based on the 1959 novel “King’s Ransom” by Ed McBain (real name Evan Hunter).
The movie follows David King (Washington), a successful executive who becomes an extortion victim when a kidnapper mixes up his son (Aubrey Joseph) with his driver’s kid and holds him for ransom.
Jeffrey Wright plays the chauffeur.
“Highest 2 Lowest” is scheduled to hit theaters on Aug. 22 and will be available on Apple TV+ in September.
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Three weeks ago, Kandace Washington buried her eldest son LSU standout receiver Kyren Lacy who died by suicide. Sadly, this isn’t the first time Washington has experienced this type of tragedy.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. We sat down with Washington, who is a school counselor, to discuss how she’s using her story of strength and resilience to inspire others who may be struggling. She also explains how her voice has guided her through the darkest of times…including now.
Singing has been a saving grace for Washington. It’s how she coped with the loss of her father as a child and now her son Kyren, both dying by suicide.
“You never think that you’re going to bury your child, so in my mind I don’t think anything can get any worse and then this happened and I’m like…I don’t understand,” Washington said.
She adds, “Growing up when I was four or five unfortunately my father committed suicide and then when I was 13 my mom passed away from ALS.”
The void left her sister to run a household of four.
“My oldest sister was in college when my mom passed away. She actually had a scholarship to sing in the choir at Southern University and she left Southern to come and raise us after all that happened. So that was pretty tough growing up without parents,” Washington explained.
Washington became a parent herself at 17…giving birth to Kyren while still in high school. Now she’s a high school counselor in Texas.
“This new normal is just a part of my calling,” Washington said.
She plans to use her story to help her students find their way.
“We see it. A lot of students struggling with mental health. Different things that they’re going through at home. How to balance. How to juggle everything,” said Washington.
She is a counselor now offering unique insight on the subject of suicide.
“Just give them some hope, some light at the end of the tunnel. And I can share it, you know, from both perspectives you know. Because at one point it took me almost 40 years to even understand what my dad was going through because I was looking at it as, you know, you left. You didn’t think about me. You didn’t care about me. It took me over 40 years to just really have empathy and to understand that you know the weight of the world sometimes is a lot. And so now that I’m experiencing it with Karen again… I just have so much empathy. And then I’ve seen some of the things that he’s had to go thought and endure and I have a lot of empathy for my dad and Kyren.”
And she has advice for other parents.
“I would just encourage parents to talk to their kids, and to listen. To listen and to understand,” Washington said.
She also recommends talking to your children about the dangers of social media and bullying online.
“If you’re on social media and you’re commenting negative things and when you close your phone and you close your laptop and you feel good about yourself… something is wrong,” Washington said.
Washington believes her son Kyren became a target after he was arrested in January after of being accused of driving recklessly and causing a deadly accident. She says the crash and all that followed pushed things over the edge.
“People go through things. They make mistakes. They make wrong decisions. Everybody has. They only difference with my son is everybody knew who he was,” Washington says.
Washington explained she still can’t fully comprehend what her son was feeling before his death but hopes time will bring clarity and healing.
“I believe that with time, everything will reveal itself, but right now it’s a lot of unanswered questions,” she said.
What Washington knows for certain is that her family, her faith, and her music will see her through as she returns to her job as a counselor in the fall. She hopes to preserve her son’s legacy by continuing his work to uplift the community.
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