'I was trying to scream': Florida teen survives lightning strike while doing yard work
Daniel Sharkey said the lightning "came straight through the tree," and he believes that the tree saved his life. "If it was a direct hit, I probably wouldn’t be here today. I am lucky that tree was there."
Lightning over Florida. (Photo credit: Mark Newman/Getty Images)
A Florida teenager is recovering after being struck by lightning while doing yard work Monday.
Daniel Sharkey, 17, runs a lawn business and was weed-whacking his neighbor's yard like he does every Monday when he saw a storm approaching shortly before 5 p.m. Monday in Altamonte Springs, about 10 miles north of Orlando. However, it wasn't yet raining where he was, and he mistakenly thought he had time.
"I saw the storm was approaching; it was thunder and lightning, so I thought I had time. I was pretty sure I could finish up because we have a siren that goes off when it's lightning, and it had not gone off yet," Sharkey told Fox 35 from his hospital room at Orlando Regional Medical Center.
Sharkey said the lightning "came straight through the tree," and he believes that the tree saved his life. "If it was a direct hit, I probably wouldn’t be here today. I am lucky that tree was there."
Ring doorbell camera video showed the teen lying on the ground after the lightning strike as neighbors rushed to his aid.
“I woke up, I was on the ground. I was trying to scream, and I was unable to,” Sharkey told WFTV.
"I couldn’t move any of my extremities…it felt like static on you…everything was tingling like your hands and arms were asleep," he told Fox 35.
We’ve already had the first lightning death of 2024 in the U.S., and the next few months are the most dangerous time. Here’s how you can be sure your family stays safe this summer.
It's a popular myth that if it's not raining or there aren't any clouds overhead, you're safe from lightning. Lightning often strikes several miles from the center of a thunderstorm, far outside the rain or thunderstorm cloud. In fact, "bolts from the blue" can strike as far as 25 miles out from the parent thunderstorm.
Florida ranks highest in the United States for lightning fatalities and injuries, thanks to a high number of thunderstorm days per year, according to the National Weather Service.
There have been four lightning fatalities in 2024, according to the National Lightning Safety Council. Last year, 14 people were killed by lightning in the U.S. and its territories.
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