Two people have been struck by lightning in South Florida in less than a week. The most recent strike happened in Cooper City and believe it or not, both men are already out of the hospital.
"I guess the lightning hit me, threw me down to where I slid into the canal," said 55-year-old Michael Hindle of Sunrise.
Hindle was rushed to the hospital on the 4th of July after he was hit by the bolt of lightning that sent shock waves throughout his body.
"We were out having a BBQ with the family at my in-laws and we were talking and Roberto, my brother-in-law, was grilling and the next thing I know, I was out," he said.
In a flash Hindle was jolted off his feet into the air and ended up in the water.
"When I went into the canal, it was up to here. My head and my shoulders was submerged in the water," Hindle said.
The shock left him paralyzed and unconscious, but his brother-in-law jumped in to rescue Hindle. Hindle said he remembered what happened after the lightning strike.
"I said, ‘Well I could see a little light,'" Hindle said. "I felt like I was under water. I kept trying to raise my hand and I couldn’t. And then finally I raised my hand and it felt like once I raised my hand, I was gonna be ok. And he told me, 'Mike you never raised your hand.'"
Local
A second man who was hit by a lightning strike Tuesday in Cooper City is already back home. His strike happened after lightning hit a tree and traveled through the ground.
“It’s way beyond my comprehension as to how something like that can happen,” Hindle said. “Stay alive, go home that evening and for the most part feel like you did the day before."
Lightning is one of the leading weather related causes of death and injury in the United States and Florida tops the nation in lightning strikes.
According to National Geographic, Earth is struck by more than 100,000 lightning bolts every second. The odds of being struck in your lifetime is 1 in 3,000.
