Posted on 05/27/2017 12:13:33 PM PDT by MtnClimber
If youre hit by lightning, theres a nine in ten chance youll survive. But what are the lasting effects of being exposed to hundreds of millions of volts? Charlotte Huff investigates.
Sometimes theyll keep the clothing, the strips of shirt or trousers that werent cut away and discarded by the doctors and nurses. Theyll tell and retell their story at family gatherings and online, sharing pictures and news reports of survivals like their own or far bigger tragedies. The video of a tourist hit on a Brazilian beach or the Texan struck dead while out running. The 65 people killed during four stormy days in Bangladesh.
Only by piecing together the bystander reports, the singed clothing and the burnt skin can survivors start to construct their own picture of the possible trajectory of the electrical current, one that can approach 200 million volts and travel at one-third of the speed of light.
In this way, Jaime Santanas family have stitched together some of what happened that Saturday afternoon in April 2016, through his injuries, burnt clothing and, most of all, his shredded broad-brimmed straw hat. It looks like somebody threw a cannonball through it, says Sydney Vail, a trauma surgeon in Phoenix, Arizona, who helped care for Jaime after he arrived by ambulance, his heart having been shocked several times along the way as paramedics struggled to stabilise its rhythm.
Jaime had been horse-riding with his brother-in-law and two others in the mountains behind his brother-in-laws home outside Phoenix, a frequent weekend pastime. Dark clouds had formed, heading in their direction, so the group had started back.
(Excerpt) Read more at mosaicscience.com ...
Hence your screen-name? "Loping" (= "running") slow?
Regards,
Lol no, that’s for my slow loping Quarter Horses
Oh man, that’s just tough.
Wise woman!
That can’t be good!
Years ago, we were circling Omaha on a flight from Minneapolis in the clouds. It was right after Easter and they were having an ice shower. All we saw was a flash and heard an explosion. You could hear a pin drop. Pilot flew us back to Minneapolis because we couldn’t land in the Omaha weather.
When I was around three years old, lighting struck a pool I was standing near. It vibrated through my body. I was really shook up.
For about 3 months my upper back and shoulders hurt like I had tried to triple my single rep max. For a year, any time I got within a few inches of a power switch there was a static discharge. Worst of all, I was traveling 4 or 5 days each week and the mag strips on my credit cards were wiped as soon as I touched them.
my best friend in high school was struck by lightning - hiking on a mountain at philmont scout camp - she never was the same after.
less than 2 years ago, the daughter of a friend was sitting & talking to her son when lightning went SIDEWAYS thru her apt. they got out just in time with the dog.
That’s as close to a lightning strike as I ever want to be!
LIFT!
He gave electrifying performances.
Dannion Brinkley rode the lightning bolt that struck him all the way to the Art Bell show.
You must have been mildly shocked.
Lightning hit a tree in my backyard while I was at work about eight years ago. Split it in half.
Now instead of growing alongside the fence by my neighbor’s property, it tries to grow into it.
Last month was on a plane that was hit by lightening. A flash of light and an instant boom noise. Cant say I enjoyed it much but no worse for the wear.
One time as a kid I was looking out the front window during a thunderstorm. A bolt of lightening struck the street and it seems to deflect into the corner of our house. When the storm passed I went into the street and there was a dark mark where the bolt had hit.
Your wife was correct to make you come inside.
Several years ago, my Uncle was working outside. There was a little thunder in the distance but he wasn’t worried because it was several miles away.
Then, boom. A strike knocked him to the ground. He was very lucky in that he only suffered some leg pain for several days. He learned his lesson.
About a year ago, I was outside. It was mostly sunny with just a few clouds.
Then, suddenly came a bright flash and a tremendous boom. Scared the living daylights out of me. At first, I thought we had been nuked.
It was just one huge roar of thunder & an angry flash of lightning. What was so weird is that it came from nowhere. One strike and that was it.
I ran inside the house. A few hours later I discovered that the lightning had killed my DVR. That’s how strong that single lightning strike was. As I said before, it was a shock because it was a mostly sunny day with one slightly dark cloud. I guess that one slightly dark cloud was enough.
Lightning is so dangerous.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.