UK weather: Woman films the exact moment her iPhone is struck by lightning

The odds of being hit by lightning are said to 1 in 700,000.

Although that is relatively low you still never think that it will actually happen to you.

Spare a thought then for Tracey Kutuol who on Thursday night managed to get hit by lightning while she was standing in her own home.

Tracey, who lives in Galashiels, Scottish Borders, was standing by her bedroom window, filming how eerily dark it had become in her neighbourhood during a storm.

Then, all of a sudden, at around 10 pm she found herself and her iPhone being zapped by a bolt of lightning.

The force of the bolt threw the iPhone from her hands but miraculously carried on the recording, capturing the distressing aftermath and her family's reaction.

Speaking to SWNS, Tracey recounted the traumatic incident.

I was trying to film how dark it was and hoping for a little lightning that I could capture but I did not anticipate that it would hit me.

The lightning hit the pop socket on my phone. And if I am being honest, that saved my life otherwise my phone would have probably exploded.

I was not hurt and all the kids and my friend who were with me were all fine. My kitchen light bulb managed to blow up though.

The only side effect was a strong sensation of pin and needles in her left arm but they were unsure how safe they were in their house so took precautions.

You have no idea how powerful lightning is, I could still feel pins and needles from my left hand starting from my pinky all the way up to my elbow.

When it hit, it was like a big blue light. That was when I realised that my life flashed before me. I just threw my phone and we all started to panic and scream.

After the incident, everybody in the house ran into the bedroom on the ground floor of their townhouse, which she thought would be the safest room.

 

My son tried to make sure the cat wouldn't jump out of the window. My daughter thought the place was going to go on fire.

As a mother, my job was to try and comfort my kids and keep them calm. We pulled all the plugs off the sockets and run to my room.

Then on the third floor, it's my son's room, bathroom, and our living room. My room is on the lower ground so I felt we would be much safer there.

We stayed there until 11.30pm

Amazingly the only reason that Tracey survived the incident was down to the rubber case that she had on her iPhone, an item that she had only received hours before after purchasing it on eBay.

Afterwards, Tracey messaged thanking the seller for inadvertently saving her life.

I don't know his name but I messaged him today telling him I was so thankful for that case as it actually saved my life.

At first, my children thought my case looked funny but I bet they are happy with it now. I think I will probably buy the pink version of that phone cover from him.

Tracey did admit that she was nervous for any potential thunderstorms in the future but now wants to raise awareness of just how easy it can be to be hit by lightning.

I just want to raise awareness for anyone who plans on doing what I did - don't do it, don't be a numpty like me.

I've had calls from my family in Germany and when my husband came into the house last night he said what I did was irresponsible.

I did have a cry about it all, so please be careful out there as it can happen to anyone.

HT Lad Bible

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