A 24-year-old Staten Island man survived being struck by lightning after he walked out of his front door and was heading to a dentist appointment.
The moment was caught on a doorbell camera and the man, Thomas Fahmy, said it took place about 15 to 25 feet from his car on Aug. 27.
The surveillance video shows Fahmy, a staffer in Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis’ Staten Island office, walking with an umbrella when he was struck by lightning and knocked to the ground.
Lightning hits Courtenay home
Fahmy remained conscious and got back up on his feet before walking to a nearby home to ask for help.
He was taken to the Northwell Staten Island University Hospital after a woman heard him shouting for help and called 911.
Fahmy told NBC 4 New York that he felt a “very intense burning sensation” followed by “tingling, numbness, pain, severe pain, in both my feet.”
He said that he didn’t suffer any visible burns or major injuries but he was monitored overnight at the hospital before being released the following day.
Malliotakis released a statement following news of Fahmy’s lightning incident, saying, “We are grateful that Thomas, a member of my congressional staff is alive and well after being struck by lightning last week.”
“I thank the good samaritan [sic] who ran to his aid and the medical staff at Staten Island University Hospital who treated him,” she added in a post on X.
The odds of being struck by lightning in the U.S. are less than one in one million in a given year, according to the National Weather Service.
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