Storm chasing, photography and the open road

Lightning Strike Survivors

By DAN ROBINSON
Storm Chaser/Photographer

Even in the movies, you may hear people casually joke about wanting to experience a lightning strike, just to see what it's like. But any lightning victim will tell you that the lifelong after-effects of a strike are no amusement park ride - that is, if you manage to survive.

While it's true that the chances of you being injured or killed by lightning are very small, it's wise to exercise a little caution along with some good old-fashioned common sense when thunderstorms are forecast for your area. [ More on Lightning Safety ]

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Click on a subheading to read:
True Stories by Lightning Strike Survivors
Symptoms and Common Injuries
Internet Resources

True Stories by Lightning Strike Survivors

These individuals have sent their personal accounts of their experiences. (Click on a listing for that person's story.)

Symptoms and Common Injuries

Victims of lightning strikes often experience mysterious symptoms that doctors are unable to pinpoint. These symptoms often are not life-threatening, but they may be chronic and usually do not go away with time.

Symptoms Sometimes Experienced:

Muscle Pains- may be cramp-like, sometimes intense
Tingling Sensations
Loss or Alteration of Senses- eyesight and/or hearing problems,loss of touch, inability to feel heat, cold, pressure, and/or pain, or sensations of pain (sometimes severe) with no source
Dizziness
Disorientation
Nausea and/or Vomiting
Headaches
Siezures
Mental Depression- common among survivors, depression may set in as a result of: The bothersome symptoms that no doctor can seem to explain, and the reality that the symptoms may last a lifetime; the feeling of isolation, as lightning strikes are relatively rare and survivors have little or no faculties for sharing their experience.

Common Injuries Caused by Lightning

Some victims of lightning strikes thankfully escape without any severe or permanent injury. However, injuries recieved due to a lightning strike can be serious or life-threatening.

Cardiac and/or Repiratory Arrest- The leading cause of death for strike victims. However, most victims that have gone into cardiac arrest can be easily revived with the immediate and proper administration of Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (C.P.R.). Many lightning-caused deaths could have been avoided if C.P.R. had been immediately administered to the victims.
Central Nervous System (C.N.S.) damage
Burns
Deafness or hearing loss
Blindness or loss of eyesight
Muscle and/or Ligament tearing, Bone Fractures- caused by violent muscle contractions due to the electric current from a lightning strike

Internet Resources

The following sites contain valuable information for lightning strike and electric shock victims:

Lightning Injury Resource Page
By Dr. Mary Ann Cooper, a nationally recognized expert in keraunomedicine who has experience in working with lightning strike victims. Dr. Cooper has appeared in many articles and television programs about lightning.
The National Lightning Safety Institute (N.L.S.I.)
A central location for lightning safety and protection issues, as well as discussions, statistics, and more.