I’ve been meaning to focus a bit more on Fortean phenomena here at The Occult Section, but either you rarely hear about such things anymore, or you hear too much about them. Remember the dead falling birds epidemic from January? But I stumbled upon this little story about an 11-year-old girl who was struck by lighting in Pennsylvania. On a sunny afternoon.
CANONSBURG, Pa. (AP) — An 11-year-old western Pennsylvania girl is recovering after she was struck by a bolt from the blue.
Lisa Wehrle tells the Observer-Reporter newspaper of Washington, Pa., that the sun was shining when her daughter, Britney, was struck by lightning Friday, apparently from a storm several miles away.
Lisa Wehrle says, “There was no rain. It was a beautiful day. All she heard was some thunder.”
The lightning hit Britney as she was walking down a hill in North Strabane Township with a friend about 2:30 p.m. that day. The bolt hit her on the left shoulder, leaving a burn-like mark and exited her wrist, where it left another mark.
She was treated at a Pittsburgh hospital. Doctors discovered her arm was broken, but otherwise she’s OK.
I’m not sure how far away this storm really was, but it’s scary to think that even on a sunny day, lightning can still strike you. Lightning can strike horizontally, and from many miles away. Glad to see she survived this rarity of nature.
