A Florida couple is thanking God and four strangers who rushed to save them after a lightning strike left a wife in cardiac arrest and her husband helpless just feet away.

Aaron and Clare Walenga had dropped their three children off at church youth group on Sept. 2 and were enjoying one of their regular date nights. After dinner, the couple went for a walk along the West Orange Trail in Winter Garden, Florida.

They were walking hand in hand when a storm rolled in and lightning suddenly struck them.

Aaron, 48, woke up on the ground in severe pain, unable to understand what had happened.

“My first thought was that we got hit by a car,” he told Fox News Digital. “I thought maybe a car just ran us over from behind because getting struck by lightning is nothing that would even enter our minds.”

Then he saw people gathered around his wife.

Clare, 43, had stopped breathing and turned blue. Aaron desperately tried to reach her but temporarily couldn’t control his body.

“I wanted to get to Clare, and I just couldn’t get up,” he recalled. “I couldn’t really move, and I was in the worst pain of my life.”

But four strangers nearby were already running toward the couple.

They called 911, and Michael Weyand began performing CPR on Clare despite having never done it before.

“I’ve never done CPR before in my life,” Weyand said. “But in that moment, I knew I had to start.”

As the group worked to save her, Clare suddenly took a “massive breath.” Witnesses later told her she had stopped breathing for several minutes.

Aaron and Clare were rushed to the hospital with serious injuries. Aaron suffered facial fractures, damaged teeth, cuts and burns. Both had brain bleeds, while Clare also suffered heart damage and memory loss.

Then came the news they now describe as miraculous.

“We’re just seeing miracle after miracle and just too many divine things in this unfortunate circumstance to not be noted,” Clare said.

Two days later, follow-up testing showed the brain bleeds were gone and Clare’s heart damage had healed. Her memory also returned.

“God’s not done with me yet,” Clare said.

For the Walengas, however, the story isn’t only about surviving a lightning strike. It’s also about the people who showed up when they needed them most.

The couple has since formed a close relationship with the strangers who rushed to their aid. Their pastor helped get their children safely home that night, while neighbors stepped in to care for their yard and pool as they recovered.

Aaron said the outpouring of support has given him a new picture of the church in action.

“It’s very humbling to know that people out there really care for you, and to see the church the way it’s supposed to be, where it’s not just in a building,” he said. “It’s really the people that are around you, and it’s been amazing to watch.”

And through it all, the couple says their faith kept them from losing hope.

“We’ve never asked ‘Why me?’” Aaron said. “We never got upset, we never felt hopeless. We really felt like even though it was a hard situation … God’s been with us and there’s a purpose behind it.”

For Clare, surviving has left her with a simple but profound sense of gratitude.

“The gift of life that we have is just so beautiful,” she said.