A Routine Walk to the Dentist Turned Into a Literal Shock
Dig this out: a Staten Island man is going viral after surviving the kind of moment most of us would assume only happens in a movie — Thomas Fahmy was struck by lightning while walking to his car during a rainstorm.
Fahmy, a congressional staffer for New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, was heading to a dentist appointment on August 27 when a neighbor’s doorbell camera captured the frightening strike. He was carrying an umbrella and was reportedly only about 15 to 25 feet from his car when a flash sent him crashing to the pavement.
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Even more remarkable, Fahmy said he never lost consciousness. He later described an intense burning sensation, tingling, numbness and severe pain in both feet before managing to get up and call for help.
A nearby resident heard him yelling and called 911. Fahmy was taken to Northwell Staten Island University Hospital, where he remained overnight for observation before being released the following day. According to his subsequent interviews, doctors found no visible burns or major injuries.
And yes, the umbrella makes the footage look even more unbelievable — but there is an important distinction here: reports establish that Fahmy was carrying an umbrella when he was struck, not that the umbrella itself caused the lightning strike. The National Weather Service notes that metal does not attract lightning, although it conducts electricity, and stresses that no place outdoors is safe when thunderstorms are nearby.
The odds are extraordinary. The CDC says about 37 million lightning strikes hit the ground in the United States each year, while a person’s annual odds of being struck are less than one in a million. Nearly 90 percent of lightning-strike victims survive — a statistic Fahmy can now count himself among.
Fahmy later said the experience left him with a renewed appreciation for simply being here. He even bought a lottery ticket after leaving the hospital. No jackpot — but after walking away from a lightning strike, we are going to say he had already used up the day’s allotment of impossible luck.
Watch Thomas Fahmy’s Staten Island Lightning Strike Caught on Camera
The viral footage captures the August 27 incident that sent Fahmy to the hospital overnight before he was released without major injuries.
Sources: People; National Weather Service; CDC.
