Around
4,000 people around the world die from lightning strikes every year,
but about ten times as many are hit by lightning and survive. For those
who survive a strike, the experience is so memorable that they've formed
an international survivors group. Some only have memories of the
experience, while others face lifelong effects and health issues, both
mental and physical. Their stories are always scary.
A
crashing boom. A jolting, excruciating pain. "My whole body was just
stopped — I couldn't move any more," Justin recalls. "The pain was… I
can't explain the pain except to say if you've ever put your finger in a
light socket as a kid, multiply that feeling by a gazillion throughout
your entire body."
"And I saw a white light surrounding my body —
it was like I was in a bubble. Everything was slow motion. I felt like I
was in a bubble forever."
A couple huddled under a nearby tree
ran to Justin's assistance. They later told him that he was still
clutching the chair. His body was smoking.
When Justin came to,
he was looking up at people staring down, his ears ringing. Then he
realized that he was paralyzed from the waist down. "Once I figured out
that I couldn't move my legs, I started freaking out."
Read
the stories of several lightning survivors, and a little of what we know about lightning's effect on humans, at Mosaic.
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