To avoid lightning Strikes, use an iPod... Ping!
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Posted on 06/19/2009 3:10:13 PM PDT by AngieGal
A teenage girl survived a terrifying lightning strike after she was saved by the wire of her iPod.
Schoolgirl Sophie Frost and her boyfriend Mason Billington, both 14, stopped to shelter under a tree when a storm struck as they were walking near their homes.
Doctors believe Sophie survived the 300,000-volt surge only because it travelled through the gadget’s wire, diverting it away from her vital organs.
The teenager was taken to hospital and is recovering from burns to her chest and legs while Mason suffered damage to his eyes.
Both are expected to make a full recovery and Sophie may not even have a permanent scar.
She will be thankful she was wearing her iPod, which she had been given four days earlier as a gift from her grandmother.
Returning from hospital yesterday after three days of treatment, she said: ‘I’m just glad to be alive. I don’t remember a thing about what happened, but from what everyone tells me it’s a miracle I’m still here.
‘Everybody’s said the iPod must have diverted the lightning away from my body, which probably saved my life. I’ve got a few burns, but it’s all healing OK.’
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
The wire of her Ipod would be lower impedance than her body as the lightning went to ground.
Like that is going to help
“Like that is going to help “
The most conductive path would be through an iPod wire if worn on the head. That is the path the lightning will take. It will take it every time.
You may not understand why, but your video proves it.
-PJ
Most likely the wire quickly vaporized and created a conducting plasma of copper ions.
Of course, to ionize it had to be along the lowest impedance path to begin with.
That tiny piece of wire isn’t going to be able to hold up under anything near the charge of a lightning strike. It might well have diverted some of the discharge around instead of through her body, but the amount of energy in a bolt of lightning is far exceeds the ability of a small strand of wire to divert it. At least IMHO.
There was a post here last year, or maybe earlier, about a young lady who had been interviewed regarding her experience in the Lebanese civil war. I made the statement she was certainly an attractive young lady, despite her truly screwy politics. Wow, you would have thought I had asked her to pose nude or something. I couldn’t believe the nasty flames I got for daring to say a teen aged girl was attractive. They said I was a pedophile in disguise, etc. I was truly shocked by the response to such an innocent observation.
Hopefully those people have moved on to another place by now.
Huh?
It didn't. Since there has been no substantiative proof of what actually saved her, Sophie Frost has been reclassified as dead.
Despite her objections, funeral services will be held on Monday..........
Damn! That’s horrific!
As someone else mentioned, the wire was vaporized. No more wire. The cloud of metal ions is a pretty good conductor. Remember, that lightning bolt just went through maybe a couple miles of air. Air is a lousy conductor, so how does that happen? The atoms in the air are highly ionized and become a pretty good conductor, but not as good as the vaporized copper. Another thing, if the kids were soaking wet, the layer of water on their clothes and bodies would be a decent conductor and also divert some of the current.
MC6809e explains it best in #24
Remember when you could say, "Oh, what a cute baby!" I wouldn't say this to strangers.
I agree with you based on many grounding designs I have done.
“I agree with you based on many grounding designs I have done.”
Thank you for the professional courtesy!
Ah, yes, it can. The lightning, finds the easiest path, which in this instance was the fine copper wire of the earbuds. The earbud wire, carrying far too much amperage and voltage, are vaporized. The vaporized copper makes an excellent ionized plasma conductor through the air that has far less resistance than her body. The copper wire is merely the initial pathway while the vaporized copper plasma is the primary pathway conductor. Note the burned pathway on her clothing and also on her chest. That was from the copper/air plasma surrounding the pathway of the no-longer existing copper wire.
The secret is to stop giving a damn what people think. It works for me.
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You are oh so correct! Sadly, my early years were such that I developed a very strong desire to be liked by those around me and to have their approval. It has turned out to be the major influence in my adult life, and I’ve spent 50 years trying to find a way to undo what was done during my formative years. My siblings suffer from the same curse. My sister has a worse time with it than I do, she doesn’t even recognize what’s wrong. My brother, who is 16 years younger than me, solved the problem with drugs and at 50 plus years old is but a step away from the street. Although, praise God, he is doing better and I have hope he might be able to avoid that sad fate.
What you are saying is SO important and needs to be drummed into the head of every child early and often. You will literally go crazy giving any weight to what those around you think of you or expect of you. Of course that peer pressure is an important part of meeting society’s basic demands, don’t steal or kill or lie or etc., but beyond that it’s the most destructive pressure Satan has to mess with us.
Thank you for pointing that out! I need that, often, very often!
Her problem of course is not with the memorial services. It’s with the interment shortly thereafter.
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