A Florida teenager is surviving and recovering after being struck by lightning while working in his yard during the storm.
Daniel Sharkey, 17, was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center after the incident, which happened in Altamonte Springs around 5pm on Monday.
“It came through the trees,” he said. Fox 35.
Sharkey, who owns a lawn care company, was struck by lightning while mowing a neighbor’s yard during the storm, the outlet reported, noting that lightning can strike miles away from a storm. Sharkey was later seen collapsing on the ground as neighbors rushed to help.
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Thunder, lightning and rain during summer storm. (iStock)
The boy is grateful to have survived the attack, but the pain remains.
“My heart hurts, everything hurts,” Sharkey said, adding that he’s “lucky to be alive.”
“I couldn’t scream, or at least I don’t think I made a sound,” he said.
Sharkey said he believes he’s still alive only because a nearby tree was struck by lightning.
“If it had been a direct hit I wouldn’t be here right now. We were lucky the tree was there,” he said.
He realized that a storm was approaching but mistakenly believed that there was still enough time before he could evacuate.
“I could see the storm coming and there was thunder and lightning so I knew we still had time,” Sharkey said. “When there’s thunder, the sirens go off so I knew we could get the job done. They hadn’t gone off yet.”
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In this Sept. 11, 2013, file photo, lightning strikes north of Mackworth Island, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
However, suddenly Sharky is struck by lightning and is unable to move.
“I couldn’t move my limbs at all… it felt like static electricity… everything was tingling, like my hands and arms were numb,” he said.
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Mr Sharkey said he survived the unusual incident of being struck by lightning and was lucky to be alive.
“It was pure chance. The chances of being struck by lightning are one in a million and you’re not 100% likely to survive. Luckily the tree was there and I’m lucky I survived,” he said.
