Electric Shock Survivor Stories Electrical Safety-SMART! Home

What's It Like to Be Struck by Lightning?

In 2001, Carissa from Petaluma, California, was struck by lightning. She was just 15, and she was very lucky.

"It was raining," Carissa remembers. "I was in my high school parking lot about to get into my mom's car. I had just closed my umbrella. All of a sudden, I saw a bright light, and I felt lightning go through my body. I got extremely warm and started shaking. My mom saw the whole thing. She said I just lit up."

"The umbrella conducted the lightning into my arm. The metal tip at the top of the umbrella got indented and burnt. My arm got tingly, sore, and weak. I had some nerve damage in my arm, and I needed physical therapy to get it working right again."

"I consider myself really lucky to be alive and okay. If it's storming, I don't go out in the thunder and lightning anymore. I don't want it to happen again."