THE last thing that Harold Deal remembered was getting out of his truck and starting to walk up the driveway to his house. The 31-year-old electrician from Lawson, Missouri, was keen to get inside out of the heavy rain. Suddenly there was a flash of white light. 鈥淚t was so bright that I could not see anything at all,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t was as if I had just stepped into a white cotton ball.鈥�
The next thing Deal knew, his wife and neighbours were standing over him. It was about 4.30 am, seven hours since he had pulled into the driveway. Bafflingly, he was slumped against the neighbour鈥檚 house, 50 feet away from his truck.
Deal was helped back to his driveway, where he found the remainder of his boots: the eyelets with the laces still tied. And from his pocket he pulled out $1.50 in change that had melded into a single coin sculpture.
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Deal realised he must had hit by lightning. Although the force of the bolt had blasted him into his neighbour鈥檚 property, clearing a 6-foot fence on his way, he had few visible marks on his body. It was only months later when he had surgery for the resulting back pain that doctors saw firm evidence of the strike. The lightning had scorched muscle, leaving an internal burn running from his right shoulder down to his left foot.
Although Deal鈥檚 experience was in 1969, the after-effects linger to this day. The strike robbed him of his senses of taste and smell and severely dulled his sense of touch. It has also affected his memory and concentration. When he wants to remember something, Deal makes a note. 鈥淵ou have to write down everything,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t messes your nervous system up real bad.鈥�
Deal is one of an estimated 900 people to survive a lightning strike in the US every year. Another 100 or so do not live to tell the tale. The immediate effects are bad enough 鈥� a lightning strike can stop the heart, halt breathing and hurl victims into the air with a brutal crash-landing. But strikes can also have bizarre long-term consequences. As well as those experienced by Deal, survivors suffer effects ranging from personality changes to long-term muscle and joint problems.
Because they are such rare individuals, relatively little medical research has been done on lightning-strike survivors. But Nelson Hendler, a neurologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, is one of a small number of doctors in the world specialising in treating survivors of electrical injury. He has recently carried out one of the largest systematic reviews of the long-term effects in lightning-strike survivors, which revealed that their medical problems are frequently missed. 鈥淣inety three per cent of patients had overlooked diagnosis,鈥� Hendler says. 鈥淭hat is a scary number.鈥�
鈥淚f caught outdoors, avoid water and the tallest objects in the area, keep twice as far from any trees as the trees are high, and do not use metal objects such as umbrellas or fishing rods. Crouch down on the ground.鈥�
The mysteries surrounding the after-effects of lightning strikes stem partly from the fact that we don鈥檛 really understand what happens during the strike itself. We do know, however, that when lightning happens electricity flows between sky and ground, packing a wallop of 10,000 to 200,000 amps. The heat generated by the massive current causes explosive air expansion, resulting in the visible bolt. It is the resulting shock wave we hear as thunder.
Lightning follows the path of least electrical resistance, but it can seem to defy logic. The strike can hit the ground right next to a tall tree, or strike a person amidst buildings. People can be victims of either a direct strike, or of something called a side flash when a nearby object is struck and the electricity jumps, or of a ground current, when electricity spreads out from the strike point.
鈥淚f there is a risk of lightning, official advice is to stay indoors and to stay away from open windows and doors, as well as all electrical appliances and the telephone.鈥�
When it hits a person, the path the current takes is variable and the damage unpredictable. For example, Barry Smith from Lewiston, Montana, was struck by lightning in 1961 while rounding up cattle on horseback. Smith survived, albeit with severe burns, despite his horse being killed instantly.
The human body is a good electrical conductor. 鈥淭he nerves are designed to conduct electricity, the blood vessels contain an electrolyte solution,鈥� Hendler points out. If the current passes through the brain, it can cause loss of consciousness and paralyse the area in the brainstem that controls breathing. If it goes through the heart it can trigger a cardiac arrest. If someone is around to carry out CPR, the victim has chance of surviving.
An important variable is how moist someone鈥檚 skin is 鈥� wet skin is a tenfold better conductor. In some cases, the current heats the victim鈥檚 sweat to boiling point, resulting in scalding steam. This can literally knock their socks off.
鈥淭he Guinness world record holder for lightning strikes is a Virginia forest ranger named Roy Sullivan, who was hit by lightning seven times over a 35-year span.鈥�
Victims may sometimes have entry and exit wounds indicating the path the current took. If there are any other external burns, it is often from metal such as money in pockets, jewellery, or buttons and zips. Garry Shaw from Ontario, Canada, who was struck by lightning on the golf course in 1994, ended up with nine burns on each of his feet, courtesy of the metal spikes on his golf shoes. Shaw was relatively lucky, however 鈥� his golfing partner died in the same strike.
鈥淭he temperature of a bolt of lightning is 30,000 掳C. That鈥檚 five times as hot as the surface of the sun.鈥�
So what happens afterwards? Because it is so rare to be struck by lightning, few doctors are aware of the long-term effects on someone鈥檚 health. A US group called Lightning Strike and Electric Shock Survivors International had its annual conference last month, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, where about 170 people gathered to talk about how their experiences left long-lasting changes to their bodies. They listed an extensive range of ailments including mental problems as well as physical complaints, particularly severe, long-term pain.
鈥淓very day there are about 8 million lightning strikes around the world.鈥�
Some of the problems did not emerge until days or sometimes months after the strike. 鈥淭he cascade is set into motion by the injury, even if some of the changes may take time to manifest,鈥� says Mary Ann Cooper, an emergency physician and lightning injury researcher at the University of Illinois.
Many of the injuries stem from damage to the nervous system, which tends to bear the brunt of the strike: the intense current can damage or destroy nerve cells. But in many cases the full explanation for people鈥檚 problems remains speculative. 鈥淟ightning is unfortunately like an 鈥榦rphan disease鈥� 鈥� no one funds research in this area,鈥� says Cooper.
One explanation could be damage to the myelin sheath, the protective covering that surrounds neurons. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like running too much amperage through a wire and it melts,鈥� Hendler explains. If the neuron鈥檚 nucleus is intact, the cell may survive and the myelin may eventually be repaired, but this process can take months or years.
Muscle and joint damage can also be a cause of chronic pain, as Hendler points out in his paper, which is due to be published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. A lightning strike can cause a person鈥檚 muscles to contract violently. It is this, as well as the thunderous shock wave, that can launch someone into the air, or equally flatten them to the ground. 鈥淵ou intuitively don鈥檛 imagine that the muscle would contract hard enough to pull the bone out of the socket,鈥� Hendler says. But this is, in fact, what happens to many victims and can cause some of the long-term problems. Hendler cites one of his patients who suffered a dislocated shoulder after she was struck by lightning while out boating one day in an aluminium canoe.
If people suffer a direct strike to the head, the damage to the brain can be severe. Victims often have several discrete areas of damage dotted around the brain 鈥� dubbed the 鈥淪wiss cheese effect鈥�. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no telling where the electricity is going to go,鈥� Hendler says.
Memory loss is a common problem and can be explained by damaged cells within the temporal lobes, the regions associated with visual and verbal recall. The frontal lobe, the seat of personality, is also vulnerable. Hendler has seen patients who have reverted to childlike behaviour, have aggressive outbursts, or have experienced depressed sex drives. 鈥淭here is no typical lightning strike or injury,鈥� he says.
One of his patients, for example, was struck by lightning while relaxing in an outdoor hot tub. After the strike, says Hendler, 鈥淗e acted like a two-year-old child, with temper outbursts, innocent and naive behaviour, and low frustration tolerance.鈥�
At the conference last month, one woman recounted the time her daughter was struck by lightning. When she regained consciousness and was told that she鈥檇 been hit by lightning, she asked, 鈥淒o I have superpowers now?鈥� While almost all people who survive lightning have more problems than powers, a handful report some unusual abilities. One woman has gained an acute sense of smell. Another claims to consistently erase the magnetic strip on hotel room keys and credit cards.
鈥淓stimates of the average person鈥檚 risk of being struck range from 1 in 5 million to 1 in 600,000.鈥�
As for Harold Deal, his lightning-induced lack of sensation came in handy when he virtually severed his finger with a snowblower 鈥� he didn鈥檛 feel any pain at all and was able to go back to work the next day. And he is now almost impervious to cold. In winter, when blustery winds blow and everyone else grabs a jacket, Deal just wears a T-shirt. 鈥淚t is kind of funny in a way,鈥� he recounts in a book published by the Lightning Strike and Electric Shock Survivors International group. 鈥淭he folks in town call me weird Harold.鈥�
