A 15-year-old boy in New York had a close call after he was struck by lightning at Central Park, but he was “lucky” enough to survive.
According to ABC, Yassin Khalifa was in Central Park with his friends when the thunderstorm hit. He decided to wait for the storm to pass in the park and leaned up against a tree.
The teenager told WABC that he was under the tree when it was struck by lightning. He lost his consciousness for about 10 seconds while his friends quickly called 911.
He said that when he woke up, he was unable to move his body and speak, as he had suffered second-degree burns to his neck and his leg.
Recounting the horrific moments, he said, “I was only able to speak once I got into the ambulance. Apparently I’m pretty lucky 'cause my spine was directly against the tree, and no nerve damage happened. So I’m, like, not losing any sort of motor function.”
“I’m really happy I'm going to make a full recovery. Really glad to be alive,” he added.
It is worth noting that severe storms hit East Coast cities on Thursday, including Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New York City.
The storms impacted the flights and sparked power outages overnight in Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey and Maryland.
