An Atlanta-area man had a lucky escape this weekend after he was struck by lightning and blown directly out of his shoes, leaving his pair of boots behind in a cloud of smoke, ABC News reported.
Sean O' Connor, 30, was working in his backyard in Coweta County on Saturday morning and had just picked up a rake when he was suddenly thrown backward after hearing a clap of thunder. "It sounded like a tree falling over," he said. "It threw me across the driveway and knocked me out of my shoes."
Disoriented, O' Connor initially assumed he had gotten hit by a tree and only realized what had happened when he spotted his burning shoe. "When I noticed my shoes were on the other side of the driveway and I heard the thunder, I realized it was lightning that had just hit me," he explained to CBS46. "My leg hairs were singed. I could smell the burnt hair."
Being alone at home, O'Connor quickly contacted his wife and told her what had happened, sending her a cellphone video of the scene when she initially thought he was exaggerating. His wife then urged him to go to the hospital, where he was held for 24 hours because of an irregular heartbeat.
He returned home Sunday, having escaped a potentially fatal accident, with lower back pain, a few scrapes from when he was thrown and no indications of permanent damage. "I look like my normal self," he said. "It's hard for people to believe I was struck by lightning.
Although he claims to be happy about surviving the incident, he's also worried about what the next overcast day might surprise him with.
"Though there's no scientific evidence, most people get struck again," O'Connor told ABC News today. "I just wonder how I'm going to feel the next time it's cloudy and I run out to get the mail."
