Tuesday, June 15, 1999
Kentucky teen struck by lightning
Expert says 100 people will die this year from such incidents
BY MOLLY HARPER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
WALTON — In a blinding flash of light, Jeremy Hayden's life changed.
The 18-year-old was standing near the window of his laundry room Sunday night watching the storm roll past his family's mobile home on Deer Trace Drive.
“There was this bright flash and everything went black,” he said. “I had this sharp pain in my left side. I thought my sister had smacked me. But when I turned to look at her, she had already run out of the room. That's when I realized what happened.”
Mr. Hayden had been touching the metal knob of the trailer's back door when it was struck by lightning. He said he stumbled into the family's living room and fell to the floor, his entire body numb.
“I was gray all over,” he said. “It was the scariest moment of my life. After a couple of minutes I could feel my legs again, next thing I know the ambulance showed up.”
Mr. Hayden said the jolt went through his right side and out his left, leaving a burn mark under his left arm. He was taken to St. Luke's Medical Center then transferred to St. Elizabeth's Medical Center where he was held for observation and monitored for cardiac arrhythmia Sunday and Monday night. He is in fair condition and expects to be released this morning.
St. Elizabeth's spokesperson Lee McGinley said the hospital sees three or four lightning victims every summer. “It's amazing what they go through and how many survive,” she said.
University of Kentucky agricultural meteorologist Tom Priddy said Mr. Hayden is one of 250 people who will be injured by lightning this year. Out of almost 100 Americans killed annually by lightning, one to three will likely be from Kentucky. Mr. Priddy said remnants of the La Nina weather system hovering over the Equatorial Pacific is making weather more severe so there could be a greater chance of people getting hit by lightning.
“But it's also a question of our paying attention to the natural world,” he said. “We take for granted the idea that all thunderstorms are potentially dangerous.”
The typical lightning-strike victim is male, aged 18 to 35.
“I doubt it's because of a particular body chemistry,” Mr. Priddy said. “18- to 35-year-old males are probably just more likely to be out during a storm playing golf or engaged in some other outdoor activity.”
The easiest way to avoid a lightning strike is to head indoors when a storm approaches, stay away from the telephone, doors and windows. If stuck outdoors, avoid water, metal objects, high ground and open spaces. If possible, take shelter in a fully enclosed metal vehicle.
Trees can be dangerous to those who stand under and around them. The electrical charge can travel through roots and runners and come up from the ground to strike a person who is yards away.
If being struck seems inevitable, Mr. Priddy said to get low and make yourself as small as possible.
“If you feel the static and the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, you're probably very close to where it's about to strike,” he said. “The best thing to do is crouch down.”
Mr. Priddy said a golf course is one of the most dangerous places a person can be during a storm.
This was proven over the weekend when a foursome at Lassing Pointe was knocked off their feet by a lightning strike nearby. Union Fire Chief Al Millard said the men were shaken, but not seriously injured. They were treated and released from St. Luke Medical Center East. Mr. Hayden said his experience is going to change the way he looks at life.
“I will keep my eyes open,” he said. “In an instant, your whole life can change.”
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