Durrington family struck by lightning
W05756H12 WH LIGHTNING STRIKE PIC S.G. 30.01.2012 Lightning Strike Anita Morris and Bike W05756h12
THE odds of it happening to you in your lifetime are one in thousands.
But a Durrington woman has spoken of the moment she and her family defied the statistics when they were struck by lightning – at the same time.
Anita Morris, of Ivydore Avenue, had made a pact with her brother and dad to cycle together in a bid to support each other while they improved their fitness.
But barely a week after they began cycling together, the trio were caught in a storm on Thursday and given the shock of a lifetime.
Anita, 24, said they were in the middle of a 10-mile bike ride in New Road, Durrington, at about 7pm-7.30pm when the lightning struck.
She said: “I’m cycling, and the next thing I know a bolt of lightning hit my handle bar and went up my wrist. My dad and brother had the same thing happen to them. I didn’t know what it was – it took me by surprise. For an hour afterwards we were buzzing. It made my whole hand ache.”
Anita, who was returning to cycling after a break of more than five years, said she had been riding on the opposite side of the road to her brother and dad and had not realised they had also been struck.
She said she did not know whether there was one bolt they had all been struck by or more than one which hit them separately.
“I came to a stop and didn’t know if I could touch my handle bar, but I touched it and it was ok. It felt a bit like a static shock, but it was much more powerful,” she said.
The unlucky incident happened on an evening when lightning struck a home in Twyford Road, Durrington, leaving a hole in the roof of the house.
Anita, who works in communications for Southern Water, said the trip had been a particularly unlucky one, as her chain came off and her lights had stopped working properly before she and her family were hit.
But despite the ill-fated trip, Anita said she had no intention to stop cycling, adding: “I’ve been hit by lightning. What’s the worst that could happen?”
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Weather for Worthing
Monday 28 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 22 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 11 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: West
