💔 A joyful summer evening turned into every parent’s worst nightmare after 8-year-old Kinslee Tschida was tragically killed by a lightning strike while playing with her cousins in rural Illinois. Her family says they rushed everyone inside the moment they heard thunder—but heartbreakingly, they were just seconds too late. ⚡

A cruel act of Mother Nature claimed the life of an 8-year-old girl Friday evening in rural Serena, Illinois, about 70 miles southwest of Chicago.

Kinslee Tschida was playing with her cousins in the backyard when she was fatally struck by lightning.

Her family said they began to head indoors the moment they heard thunder, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the tragedy that changed their lives.

“It’s unfathomable, it’s unrealistic, it’s hard to grasp,” Chris Scheib told Nexstar’s WGN.

Kinslee’s grandfather, who helped raise her, was just miles away at his home when his phone rang.

“You never would expect it,” Scheib said. “We had just lost our dog earlier in the day, and we’re sitting there grieving that, and we get a phone call. It’s like, ‘What? What do you mean she was struck by lightning?’”

Several adults, including Kinslee’s mom, uncle and aunt, were also in the yard as Kinslee and her younger cousins were playing, Scheib said.

Kinslee’s uncle, who worked on barges and was familiar with lightning detection systems, knew the moment he heard distant thunder that it was time to go inside. Scheib said it’s less than a 20-foot walk from where the girls were playing.

“He just heard a rumble, and he yelled over at his daughter and Kinslee, saying, ‘Hey, get off the swing,’” Scheib said. “Kinslee was just climbing off, and all of a sudden, in an instant. I mean, there was no warning, and there was no lightning. It came right in between the tree.”

Scheib said his other granddaughter was standing less than 4 feet away at the time of the lightning strike. She was unharmed, along with other family members who were close by and witnessed it.

“An accident — you think you’d have time to try to save a life. They did try CPR. My son and my daughter – on her own daughter – and being a nurse, you know, she took that real hard. She can’t save her own daughter,” Scheib said. “Basically, there’s nothing else you could have done.”

“The whole family could have gotten killed just because they were on the ground there. It burned out the internet at that place,” Scheib added.

Kinslee was transported to OSF St. Elizabeth Hospital in Ottawa, Illinois, where she was pronounced dead.

A forensic investigative autopsy was performed over the weekend, revealing she died of fatal injuries resulting from the accident, according to the LaSalle County Coroner’s Office.

Kinslee, who went to Rutland Grade School and would have been entering third grade this fall, is being remembered by her family as someone who loved to sing, dance and bring joy to everyone around her.

Grief counselors were at the school Tuesday for anyone who needed them.

“She changed people,” said Scheib. “She was just a good soul, you know.”

Scheib told WGN that Kinslee spent a lot of time with him and his wife, especially while her mom was in nursing school and doing her clinicals overnight.

He said they are finding comfort in the videos of Kinslee singing and performing through the years, and cherishing the lighter moments, including the simple things that brought Kinslee joy, such as her love for pickles, as they work through the grief.

“You try to muddle through it, I guess. I never had to deal with this in my life until now, and it’s changed me. I think we’re all broken,” Scheib told WGN.

Scheib became emotional as he described his gratitude to the community for the outpouring of support their family has received.

A GoFundMe was started to help the family with burial and medical expenses. Donations can also be made directly to the Seals-Campbell Funeral Home in Marseilles or through Financial Plus Credit Union under Kinslee’s memorial fund.