A Ring doorbell camera caught the moments after lightning struck a Florida teen while he was doing yard work Monday evening, FOX 35 reported.
Daniel Sharkey, a 17-year-old owner of his own lawn mowing company, was weed whacking a neighbor’s yard as a storm approached and lightning suddenly struck a tree near him, according to FOX 35.
Sharkey told FOX 35 that he believed it was the tree that saved his life. (RELATED: Video Captures Moment Lightning Strikes Family In Ocean, Knocking 12-Year-Old Girl Unconscious)
A Seminole County teen is lucky to be alive after being struck by lightning. The lightning hit a nearby tree and Daniel Sharkey as he was doing yard work for a neighbor. Fortunately he survived, but is still in an Orlando hospital recovering. @fox35orlando https://t.co/V4Z7Xonsik
— Amy Kaufeldt FOX 35 (@Fox35Amy) July 17, 2024
“It came straight through the tree,” Sharkey, who is recovering at the Orlando Regional Medical Center, told the outlet. “If it was a direct hit, I probably wouldn’t be here today. I am lucky that tree was there.”
Ring doorbell footage shows neighbors running toward Sharkey as he lay motionless on the ground.
“I couldn’t move any of my extremities … It felt like static on you … Everything was tingling, like your hands and arms were asleep,” Sharkey said.
Sharkey told FOX 35 that he noticed a storm gathering but thought he had plenty of time to complete the job before heading inside.
“I saw the storm was approaching. It was thunder and lightning, so I thought I had time,” he said. “I was pretty sure I could finish up because we have a siren that goes off when it’s lightning, and it had not gone off yet.”
Getting hit by lightning can have severe consequences, Chadwick Smith, a trauma and burn surgeon, told FOX 35.
“It can be fatal. It can cause cardiac arrhythmia where someone needs to be defibrillated. It can cause nerve problems, burns and issues with your vision down the road,” Smith said.
Sharkey’s parents remain by his side while he is recovering, and the teen says he’ll get back to work when he is able.
“It was just a complete fluke. It’s a one-in-a-million shot to get hit by lightning, and it’s not 100% survival. Luckily, that tree was there, and I am lucky to be alive,” he said.
