Lucky woman survives being struck by lightning – thanks to her £5 flip flops
The 35-year-old was grabbing her washing from the metal rotary dryer in her garden when it was hit
LUCKY Jodie Green survived being struck by lightning – thanks to her £5 flip flops.
The 35-year-old was grabbing her washing from the metal rotary dryer in her garden when it was hit – sending up to a billion volts of electricity through her body.
The single warehouse worker said she was blinded by white light and she could hear crackling above her head as the bolt blasted her.
After a trip to A&E doctors said she was lucky to be alive with only a sore head to show for the shock.
Jodie from North Cornelly, near Bridgend, South Wales, says she was saved by her size six £5 Adidas rubber flip flops she bought two months ago from Sports Direct.
She said: "I feel lucky to be alive to be honest.
"It has frightened the life out of me.
"I didn't used to be bothered by it, but I won't be going out in thunder and lightning anymore again.
"I think it was the rubber in the flip flops that saved me. It's the best £5 I've ever spent."
Jodie had hung out her washing in the back yard of the house she shares with mum Pat, 68, and sister Kelly, 40, on the hottest September day since 1911.
But she heard a storm rumbling overhead, so ran out to bring in her washing, slipping on her flip flops as she went outside.
When she put her right hand on the line to swing it round, she heard a crackling, and was blinded by white light.
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She said: "If my flip flops hadn't been at the door, and it hadn't been raining, I would have just popped out barefoot.
"I touched the metal diagonal part of the line and I heard this crackling - that's what happened first.
"That's when I felt this funny sensation.
"I couldn't see for a couple of seconds. I could just see white everywhere and I had goosebumps everywhere.
"The thing that frightened me most was this almighty crackling electric sound above my head. It frightened the life out of me.
"My sister was in the upstairs bathroom and she saw it. She said she saw this fork of lightening above my head. She couldn't believe it.
"I froze. It felt like loads of time was passing by. I was trembling head to toe, I couldn't stop shaking.
"I ran inside and I was standing at the bottom of the stairs and my mum and sister said I was white as a sheet and my hair was standing on end.
"They said 'oh my god you've been struck by lightning'.
"I felt really giddy and I felt really, really drunk." Her family called NHS Direct who told her to go straight to Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend where she had tests on her heart and muscles for four hours.
The doctor – who had also been struck by lightning two years before - said there was no lasting damage and sent her home.
Jodie, who is still suffering from pains in her head and down the right side of her body, added: "He said I was lucky to be alive." Lightning bolts contain up to one billion volts of electricity.
There are 300,000 strikes a year in the UK and an average of three deaths.