An Australian teenager who was struck by lightning apparently survived after his rubber-soled shoes absorbed most of the current.
Talyn Rose, 14, was walking to school when a lightning bolt bounced off a metal pole, shot through his body and travelled out his arm. The powerful electric charge threw him to the ground outside his school. It caused his muscles to tense and then go completely numb.
The incident happened minutes after Talyn waved goodbye to his mother Michelle Nimmo. Luckily, a father sitting in his car witnessed the scene and rushed to help Talyn, taking him inside the school.
The mom received a call informing her that an ambulance was on its way to pick her son up.
When his mother returned to the school. Talyn had already begun to recover from the shock, however, he was still taken to the hospital.
Talyn later told his mother that he could barely hear or feel anything for a whole minute following the incident.
Doctors told Nimmo that the thick rubber soles of her son’s school shoes likely absorbed the majority of the current, thus, saving his life.
“Paramedics said he is extremely lucky to be alive and that they have never seen anything like it in their whole careers,” Nimmo was quoted as saying by Daily Mail Australia.
Talyn had got temporary markings on his feet and shoulders which took three days to fade away completely. He has made full recovery from the incident.
