It’s All Fun and Games...
It was July 3, 2011, at approximately 9:54 pm. A few of my siblings were in town for my sister’s birthday. We’d all gone to the top floor of my parents’ house to watch a thunderstorm—it’s one of our favorite pastimes. We get the best summer storms in Virginia, and we love turning off all the lights to bask in the magnificence. The sunroom had several windows and sliding glass doors, so it was a perfect place to enjoy the show. We could hear, smell, and feel the storm through the open glass doors.
In all the years of watching storms, we never had a lightning rod on our house. We still don’t, actually. Most houses don’t, because the odds of getting struck are so low that it just doesn’t seem worth it. Go ahead, take a look outside—you probably don’t have one either!
Our house was tucked a few miles outside of town, surrounded by trees and neighbors—hardly a prime location for a lightning strike. But as it turns out, lightning is wildly unpredictable. Inside or outside, safe or not, when it wants to strike, it strikes.
Until Someone Gets Hurt
After a few minutes, rain started blowing in, soaking the carpet. I walked over to the glass doors to slide them shut. The moment my right foot landed on the metal air vent, we heard a deafening CRACK.
A blinding flash of light exploded around me, followed by a searing jolt of heat that tore through my body. I was thrown backward and hit the floor, dazed and disoriented.
Had my brother shoved me? That didn’t seem like him.
Had I run into something? Had I been electrocuted?
My brain scrambled to make sense of what had just happened.
Before I could even process it, my family rushed over. In the heat of the moment (quite literally!), my sisters had seen it—lightning had shot out from my fingers, arcing toward the door in front of me as I was thrown back. Everyone was in total shock (Sorry, how could I not?). But there was no mistaking it—lightning had just erupted from my hand.
We were all in a bit of a panic, not knowing exactly what happened. I was still pretty stunned, but my parents were in a tizzy! My entire right half of my body ached, and I felt tingly all over. I felt like I’d clicked a shock pen, but the sensation was throughout all of me and way stronger. And hotter. My index finger was beet red with burn marks, and I was drained.
Should we call a doctor? Do we go to the hospital? What do you do when you see lightning shoot out of someone’s hand?
Luckily, we have two doctors in the family. First, we called Uncle Dane, our pediatrician and allergist. He immediately escalated the “situation” and told us to call Uncle Mike—our go-to ER doctor. When I got on the phone with him, I explained everything that had happened, still trying to process it myself. I described the intense heat, the pain, and the fact that my body still tingled.
After giving him a detailed account of the turn of events, he said, with a sense of urgency, “Tara Kay... you’ve been struck by lightning. And I recommend you go to the ER now.”
Why My Case Was Rare
He explained that this was technically called an “indoor secondary strike.” Usually, people who experience one either feel almost nothing—or they don’t survive it. The fact that I had such an intense reaction and continued to feel pain was unexpected. He also pointed out that if I’d been wearing jewelry, the burns could have been much worse.
Not only that, but we realized that had my left foot been on the air vent, the bolt would have gone through the left half of my body and passed through my heart, leading to death or a heart attack.
Miraculously, I had been spared, with no known damage. That said, my sheer stubbornness (and borderline irrational fear of needles) kept me from going to the ER. I somehow convinced my parents NOT to take me. Uncle Mike made them promise to watch me like a hawk and take me in if anything seemed off. But I was fine!
Even in the early days of social media, the Facebook post sharing my ordeal went VIRAL—by 2011 standards anyway. It got more traction than anything I had ever posted before.
And now, years later, I still get asked about it all the time.
Did it hurt? (Yes.)
Did you get superpowers? (Mmm...no comment. 😉)
Do you feel different now? (I’ve been told I have an electrifying personality, but that’s nothing new, so...no?)
In the end, I walked away from it with nothing but a crazy story, a few minor burns, and the coolest material for “two truths and a lie” ever. I guess there are worse things to be remembered for!
Over to You
Have you ever defied the odds in some unique and unimaginable situation? Feel free to share it in the comments below. I’d love to hear about your strange-but-true adventures!
