Strike Four!
From
CBS News:
Man Survives 4th Lightning Strike
According to the National Weather Service, the odds of getting struck by lightning are one in 700,000. But for Carl Mize, the odds are much greater.
Mize, a University of Oklahoma physical plant worker, has been struck four times, most recently earlier this month. And while lightning injuries can be serious and even fatal, Mize has suffered relatively minor injuries.
"I have a hole in my tennis shoe," the 45-year-old, Mize, told The Early Show co-anchor Rene Syler of his latest strike.
As the bolt hit, he said his right foot bounced off the ground and his body tensed up. He then pulled off his tennis shoe and found his toes completely numb, he said.
"We were repairing a water line break up on the north campus, and a storm rolled in pretty fast," he said. Mize was the acting supervisor of a crew of four, using a backhoe to dig up a broken water line.
His co-workers, who know his history, saw lightning in the distance and began joking. Mize said co-worker Dennis Maddox told him "I'm getting away from you!" and then walked away. Mize, who has worked on utility crews at OU for 23 years, laughed at Maddox's fear- for about two seconds. Then the bolt hit.
"The guy that rides in the truck with me, he wants hazardous duty pay now," Mize told Syler laughing.
And his plans for the future:
Asked if he considered getting a desk job, Mize said, "No. I enjoy being outside. It's all right. I just need to stay in when the clouds are around."
Mize is heading back to work later Monday morning.
Lightning strikes are fascinating but dangerous. Their effect on people is not what you would think -- some people (like Mize) are minimally affected. Some people are fried to a crisp instantly and some people survive but with curious neurological tics that come and go for the rest of their lives.
People who work with high-voltage call it riding the serpent.
Posted by DaveH at August 16, 2005 11:43 PM