Luck may be swinging back one Buckeye man's side after he was struck by lightning.
This all happened back in April, when Jaime Santana was out riding his horse with his brother-in-law.
According to his family, a storm rolled in quickly. The pair was almost back to their home near Airport and Arlington roads when lightning struck, hitting Santana and his horse. Sadly, the horse died at the scene and Santana was hospitalized.
But on Friday, Santana was able to go home, and now he's speaking out for the very first time since the incident.
"To this day, I ask myself, 'Why?'" Santana said. "Like, 'why me?'"
To his family, it is not 'why,' but 'what' Santana will do with his second chance at life.
"I want to start from square one and that is for me to get better," Santana explained. "Be better at home, be better with my family. Be better with everyone, you know what I mean?"
His recovery has already been a long one. Santana has spent roughly four months in the hospital and rehabilitation facilities.
But, he said it has been the support of his family that has given him the strength to survive.
"You don't know what you have until it's - it's really like gone," Santana said. "But, here - the difference is, nobody is gone. Everyone is still here."
One new person sitting by his side was a stranger before this whole thing happened. Now, Robert Beaver is called a 'guardian angel.'
"It's a miracle that he's here and I think God put me in the right place," Beaver explained.
Beaver lives in the same neighborhood and heard that deafening crack of lightning. He took action, performing CPR immediately while waiting for paramedics to arrive. That swift attempt to help is what Santana's family is forever thankful for.
"I wanted to meet this man," Santana struggled to say through tears. "I wanted to meet him and be there with my family. And for me to finally sit in one place with him and my family, it's just - I can't even put it into words."
Even though the odds were against Santana that April afternoon, he is hoping his luck will hold up.
"I'm sure that one day, I'll swing by the Circle K and say, 'Hey, can I have, you know, a lotto ticket."
But, for now - having him home is the jackpot this family was waiting for.
Doctors at Maricopa Integrated Health System have said it will take him about a year to really get back to new normal.
