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A Year 11 student, Georgia, recounted to 9News the shocking moment when she and a friend were hit by lightning while on the courts at Eastern Hills Senior High School in Mt Helena.
The lightning struck a nearby metal post before traveling to Georgia and her friend.
“I was hit—it felt like it went through my head. I experienced shivers down my spine, but it was internal, and I later realized it was my spine vibrating,” Georgia shared with 9News.
She described the surreal scene: “I was just chatting with friends about the school dance when suddenly, everyone’s hair began to stand on end.”
Both students were quickly taken to the hospital and subsequently released. Although Georgia is experiencing back pain, doctors do not anticipate any lasting injuries from the lightning strike.
Just an hour and a half earlier, Michael Day and his dog were also struck while walking through a park in Hamersley, in Perth’s north-west.
Neighbours heard the 78-year-old yell out before rushing to find the grandfather injured and his dog Messi dead beside him.
“It’s really true what they say, dogs really are man’s best friend because we believe that Messi saved my dad,” Day’s daughter Karyn Avalos told 9News.
Part of the retiree’s clothes were ripped off, his umbrella, keys and phone all fried.
“Dad’s got burns to his abdomen and thighs,” Avalos said.
“The neighbours, I don’t even know their names but I know where they live and who called the ambulance.”
The grandfather remained in Royal Perth Hospital in a stable condition.
Paramedics from St John WA specialist operations said it was unlike anything they’d seen before.
“It is an incredibly unfortunate and unlikely event,” Deane Coxall said.
“I would be surprised if we never saw it again.”
Across Perth there were 10,000 lightning strikes recorded, with the summer storms also wreaking havoc across transportation.
Trains on the Mandurah line were cancelled between Elizabeth Quay and Aubin Grove this morning.
Eight flights were delayed at Perth Airport.
In Nollamara, a home caught fire after a metre box was struck by lightning on Ravenswood Drive.
“The smell of burning was so extent that I was in my bedroom and I could smell it,” resident Dorothy Rainbow said.
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