Shock of a Lifetime - Lightning Strike!!!

Well, I am proud to say that I am a survivor of a lightning strike.

I don't know how the statistics compare with spotting Komodo Dragons in the wild, or with catching piranha, or with snorkelling with manta rays, or sitting on a tiger, or many other things. However, as a mathematics teacher I am pretty confident in saying that I believe I am the only living person on Earth to have been hit by ligthning, seen Komodo Dragons in the wild, caught 2 piranha fishing, snorkelled with manta rays and sat on a tiger. However, I could be wrong. It is a big planet.

After leaving Pulau Rinca we headed back towards the port of Labuan Bajo. To break-up the 4 hour trip we stopped to do 30 or 40 minutes of snorkelling around a spectacular coral reef on a little island. It was great. I even had a Clown Fish (Nemo) swim right up to my mask. As we finished snorkelling it began to rain quite heavily. A storm was coming in. We set sail for home, but it became apparent we were going to get very soaked before we got there, despite our little boat having a canopy.

The rain got heavier, and the lightning began. The captain instructed me to put my camera away, which I did. It didn't occur to me that a camera could be a target for lightning. In hindsight I'm very pleased I put it away. There was still about 2 hours of water between us and home, and it was going to be a long and wet 2 hours for the 7 on-board (captain, 2 crew, 2 Dutch, Thommo & I). However, the scenery was spectacular and the lightning strikes even more so. Slowly the strikes came closer, and one struck about a kilometre away. At this point we started getting a little nervous, which we had not been before. The boat chugged along, while we mostly just stood or sat about with little to no talking. I was standing up bare-foot (stupid) and holding on to the (wooden) roof of the canopy for support, just behind the bow (front) of the boat under the canopy. There was a metal anchor on the bow nearby. There were also metal support cables joining a mast to the canopy. The canopy itself was wooden, as was the floor. However, everything was wet. When the lightning hit, it hit the anchor and the support cables. The support cables were less than a metre from me, while the anchor was probably less than 3 metres away. However lightning will conduct through anything, even wood, just with much less power than it would through a natural conductor. I assume the lightning did not hit me directly. If it had there is little chance I would be typing away now. However, I still consider myself to have been "struck" by lightning. I was certainly "engulfed" by it.

I don't remember hearing the fizz or sizzle that accompanies lightning strikes. I'm not sure if that is because the rain and motor drowned it out, or if I don't remember it, or if it was overwhelmed by the sheer noise of the strike itself.

What I do remember is this:

An extraordinarily loud sound. White everything. White everywhere. Electricity flowing from my hands through to my feet. An understanding of what was happening. The complete clarity of thought "Well, it's a shame it had to end now, but it has been a great life". Vision restored. Hearing uncertain. 2 or 3 seconds of quiet. A crew member sitting on the deck where he had been blown-over backwards, staring at his hands in a daze. Everyone else looking around quietly at each other. Realisation that I was alive. The word "f**k" slipping out of my mouth. And again. The crew member still staring at his hands. Me removing my hands from the canopy and staring at them. Sitting down. Thommo and the Dutch tourists saying "f**k", repeatedly. Moving my hands. Smiling - they worked. Frowning - I couldn't feel them. Frowning again realising my testicles were experiencing some sharp pain. Grimacing. Starting to communicate with more than "f**k". Feeling for my testicles but realising I had no feeling in my arms so having limited success. Grimacing a little more. Laughing nervously a little. Talking a little.

It was an incredible experience, obviously. Not one you order from the tour brochure, but certainly the most unforgettable experience of my life. Although I assumed that I was dying or dead, and somehow my brain had time to have a very quick reminisce on life, I wouldn't say that "my life flashed before my eyes". The white all around me certainly was not heaven, it was simply my brain getting blasted by sound and light at unimaginable levels. It did take several seconds to realise I was alive, and it was a great relief to me!

A few minutes after the strike, after we had had time to discuss it a bit, I went into shock. Although it was wet, it wasn't exactly cold, but I shook uncontrollably for half an hour or an hour. Evidently I was very pale and not very communicative. The lightning went on around us for a while before eventually moving further away. By the time we were approaching port I had got myself back together, and the feeling was returning to my arms. My testicles were still struggling but there was no way I was going to investigate that issue without a hot shower. As we disembarked the boat we discovered a large split in the hull. Luckily it was just below the deck and was not too close to the water-line or it could have added another twist to the tale. Everyone was alive and relatively well. We said some strange farewells and moved on.

Thommo and I headed back to our hotel. I showered and surveyed myself, finding everything to be in order, at least to the naked-eye. We then went to the only "bar" in town where we downed 5 or 6 quick drinks each, with some intermittent conversation involving plenty of "f**k" words. Thommo had not been blasted quite as badly as me, sitting further away and not holding the canopy, but he was still pretty shaken-up. The drinks were a nice anesthetic for us both.

In the week or so to follow my body was a bit shaken up. I'm not sure how much was to do with the cold I had, how much was to do with drinking too much in Bali and how much was to do with being blasted by lightning. My hearing was a bit funny but is fine now. My body temperature fluctuated quite a bit but stabilised after a few days. My hands regained full feeling and are fine. I don't believe I've gained any super-powers myself, but I'm pretty sure I have some super-powered sperm on board (though my testicles seem otherwise fine). That is probably enough references to my testicles for the internet today.

Anyway, to conclude a long story, in the last few weeks I've been out of the swimming pool much faster when I hear thunder in the distance.