Terrifying video shows a congressional staffer for Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) being struck by lightning, a less-than-a-one-in-a-million chance, while walking to a dentist appointment during a thunderstorm in Staten Island, New York, last month.
Doorbell camera footage obtained and shared by WNBC this week shows a lightning bolt hit umbrella-carrying Thomas Fahmy, knocking him to the ground.
Fahmy recalled to the outlet how he experienced a “very intense burning sensation,” as well as “tingling, numbness, pain, severe pain, in both of my feet.”
Still conscious, he stood up, walked to a nearby home and sought help from residents who called him an ambulance. Fahmy was hospitalized overnight and discharged the next day.
There have been 517 lightning-related deaths nationwide since 2006, while almost 90% of people struck by lightning survive.
The CDC advises not to “carry any metal objects, such as golf clubs, fishing poles, umbrellas, or backpacks with metal frames,” as the metal can act as a conductor and the “chances of a direct hit are higher when you are carrying a conductor above shoulder level.”