A mum survived being struck by lightning whilst standing at her kitchen sink after her shoes saved her life.
Caroline Blake was making herself a cup of coffee after finishing work at home in Crinkle, Co Offaly, amidst a thunderstorm last weekend when the bolt hit.
Throwing the teaspoon into the sink, the 53-year was jolted by a huge explosion and "thrown back".
But until doctors at hospital later told told her, what Caroline didn't realise was she'd just escaped death from 300million Volts - because of the rubber soles on her running shoes.
So lucky does the Tesco worker feel, she says she's considering playing the Lottery in the hopes good luck comes in spells.
Despite this, though, Mrs Blake says next time a storm hits she'll be locking herself in her room and away from any sort of sink.
“I’ll think of things differently now. I could have died,” she told the Irish Mirror.
“The doctors told me it’s only because I had my runners on, because of the rubber on the soles, it saved me and also that I kept my feet firmly on the ground.
“I probably could have been burnt otherwise or worse. I honestly don’t know though.
“So I was very lucky. The scary thing is when you’re on your own, I had nobody.
“I didn’t what was going to happen. When it happened, I was in a daze for a minute or two.”
Around 30-60 Brits a year are struck by lightning, although incidents of being killed by lightning are extremely rare and only about 5-10% of cases.
Scott Seddon, from Liverpool, was killed on holiday in Greece last month after being struck by lightning while paddleboarding.
Caroline and her husband Michael believe that the lightning struck the tap on the outside of their home which is connected to the indoor sink.
Describing the moment it happened, she told us: “The whole sink just electrified up. There’s was like a huge big explosion in here and a bang and a smell.
“It threw me back a bit. It was like a thump. You know when you put your hand on an electric fence, that sort of thump on my body.
“I was disorientated then for a few minutes and I managed to get down then and got on my phone and I rang my husband.”
She added: “You could hear all the volts in the kitchen, it’s like when you plug in something and it blows up.
“I could see the sparks from the top of the sink and coming out of the sink.”
One of Caroline’s daughters came home in the meantime and insisted she go straight to hospital, where her husband met her, but luckily she was released that evening.
“The doctor told me ‘I had never dealt with a case of lightning before’ and I said ‘I never dealt with it either!’” she joked.
“Everyone has been slagging me to buy a lottery ticket. I haven’t bought one yet but I definitely will now because I must be lucky. I was very lucky.
“Everyone is calling and I’m telling them all I’m OK. I hate the limelight, I’d rather sit in the corner and let everyone else talk.
“I’m kind of embarrassed as everyone keeps asking me. But I’m glad to be alive.”
Mrs Blake's friend Theresa Ryan’s home was also struck by lightning while her teenage son Matthew inside on his own at the time.
The bolt struck the family's home so hard that the floor tiles on the other side of the wall inside shattered into pieces and their power was cut.
Speaking about the damage, Ms Ryan said: “That would have been the phone line there and it blew it out.
“Matthew’s Xbox, his television as well as the television here in the kitchen are fried and also my ESB meter, completely fried like.
“It was just before 3pm on Tuesday. I just went down town and then Matthew rang me and he was after hearing a bang.
“It frightened the life out of him. But as I said, no one was hurt, you know what I mean.
“I haven’t seen thunder and lightning like that in donkeys years.”
