A 15-year-old New York City teen who was struck by lightning in Central Park has opened up on the incident, indicating that he feels “lucky” the electric shock didn’t cause him too much harm.
High school sophomore Yassin Khalifa told ABC 7 News from his hospital bed that on Thursday afternoon, he was enjoying a picnic with his friends in the park’s East Meadow when they saw the black storm clouds arriving.
Khalifa stated that he leaned up against a tree to get out of the rain and suggested they “ride it out” — which, he recalled, “might not have been the best idea.”
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Around 3pm, a bolt of lightning struck the tree near 101st Street and 5th Avenue, knocking the New York teen unconscious for some minutes.
Once he regained consciousness, he was in an ambulance rushing towards New York Presbyterian/ Weill Cornell Medical Center, per reports.
Yassin Khalifa was treated for second-degree burns on his neck and leg, yet admitted that the damage could have been far worse than what happened on the day.
“Apparently, I’m pretty lucky, because my spine was directly against the tree and no nerve damage happened,” Khalifa said.
“So I’m like, not losing any sort of motor function. So I’m pretty happy about that”, the New York teen added.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year across the United States, some 40 million lightning strikes hit the ground, but the chances of an individual being struck are less than one in a million.
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Between 2006 and 2021, there were 444 Americans who were struck by lightning, the survival rate is more than 90%, the agency said.
