• Question: what happens if you get hit by lightning

    Asked by 833xygg37 to Gavin, Karen, Mark, Michel, Roisin on 11 Nov 2016.
    • Photo: Michel Destrade

      Michel Destrade answered on 11 Nov 2016:

      You get a massive electrical current going through your body into the ground and causing a lot of damage. You most probably die instantly, burned inside! But some people manage to survive. and I remember reading the interview of a person who was struck twice. But they had suffered a lot and with life long damage.

    • Photo: Karen

      Karen answered on 13 Nov 2016:

      When you are hit by lightening the lightening disrupts the electrical signals going to your heart which causes you to go into cardiac arrest (heart attack). It may or may not kill you as with all heart attacks ⚡️⚡️?

    • Photo: Roisin Jones

      Roisin Jones answered on 13 Nov 2016:

      As Michel and Karen have already said, you get hit by a massive amount of electrical current which can cause a good bit of damage or even kill you (which is why if you get caught outside in a storm you should avoid tall trees or poles which might conduct a lightning strike). What is fascinating is that some people seem to be more prone to being hit by lightning than others: there was park ranger in Virginia called Roy Sullivan who got struck by lightning seven separate times in a 35 year period and survived each time! While he would have been more likely to be exposed to lightning due to the outdoor nature of his job, seven times is still an incredibly improbable number of times to be struck!

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