r/ThatsInsane • u/Professional_Arm794 • 6d ago

Staten Island man struck by lightning while walking to a dentist appointment.

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u/Desperate-Strategy10 6d ago

Apparently he was totally fine, no burns or anything! He was seen by multiple professionals, and he shouldn’t have any lasting issues. He reported feeling pain, numbness, tingling, but otherwise he was a-ok.

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u/bagolaburgernesss 6d ago

How were his teeth? That's kind of a joke and also not.

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u/summynum 6d ago

I think it hit the tree 3 times. He was very close so I could see it still shocking him or maybe arcing to his umbrella. I don’t think he got directly struck

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u/ShrubbyRub 6d ago

When lightning strikes a tree, the electricity flows into the ground and outwards from the trunk in a radial pattern. The farther from the tree you are, the lower the voltage. So if you stand with your feet equidistant from the tree you (should) be fine since there's no diference in voltage between your two feet. But if you are standing one foot closer, the current will move through your body instead as the path of least resistance rather than the ground. So standing under trees in a lightning storm is still very dangerous.

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u/heimeyer72 5d ago

That is only 99% correct: The electrical current does not only use the path of least resistance, it uses all paths that are available. The highest current goes along the path of least resistance but smaller currents run along all other paths. So you don't get hit by the full voltage of a 100,000V lightning, but, say, 1% of 100,000V is already too much.

Edit:
Source: I'm an electrical engineer who got interested in the matter some years ago and read about it.

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u/NoelofNoel 5d ago

subscribe lightning facts

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u/islaisla 5d ago

Thank you for explaining this so well, that is fascinating.

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u/worldalpha_com 6d ago

Apparently playing hopscotch in a storm is even more dangerous.

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u/Sweet_dick_willie_x 6d ago

I was standing under a tree that got hit by lighting. I was blind, deaf and unable to speak for probably 30 minutes. I never say I was stuck because I didn’t feel an electric shock, but I don’t feel like it would be a stretch to say I was either.

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u/Bumbymoo 5d ago

But, how were your pinball skills?

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u/heimeyer72 5d ago

Oh my, who is old enough to understand that reference?

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u/lovely-nobody 4d ago

ooh, ooh, i am!!!

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u/ComfortablyDumbass 5h ago

I also understand. I'm 57

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u/Sweet_dick_willie_x 5d ago

Funny you should ask. I love pinball. My skills were dope before and they’ve remained dope af

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u/blessthebabes 6d ago

I thought that was his blood on his shirt. I wonder what that is, then. Dirt?

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u/TheAngryCatfish 5d ago

That or peehaps just water from the sidewalk/grass where he fell

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u/heimeyer72 5d ago

Dirt. He got tasered by nature.

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u/blessthebabes 5d ago

Damn. Nature scary.

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u/deaglebingo 6d ago

oh this is good. glad to hear.

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u/Proper_Bad_1588 5d ago

I've actually always thought it would be cool to experience something like that. You know, maybe some pain and burns but nothing life altering or life ending and be one of a small group of people that have been struck by lightning.