Four women have a unique bond after almost getting struck by lightning. A stray bolt struck their tiki hut while they were vacationing in Florida.
After surviving the storm, the four decided to get matching lightning bolt tattoos as a way to remember their bonding moment. The incident happened last Saturday. Sisters Danielle and Taylor Sturgill and their friends, Becky Johnson and Kelli Bryant, were almost struck by lightning. The four had been staying at the JW Marriott Beach Resort on Marco Island.
According to Good Morning America, that's when a storm sent lightning in their direction. Three of them experienced minor injuries from the indirect lightning strike. All four ended up going to the hospital.
"The siren went off, and we knew there was a storm coming. And the nearest thing to us was a little tiki hut, and that's where we decided to take shelter," Danielle told GMA. "I can remember really heavy pressure on my head, and then, after that, I was gone."
Lightning Almost Strikes Four
"So, the lightning bolt didn't have direct contact with any of the people, but the energy from it, the electricity from it did," Byrne explained. "They were presenting with obvious injuries from a lightning strike. Although it is frightening, and they obviously were scared, once some care was given, they were calm."
"I completely fell backwards. It knocked me completely out," she recalled. "Like, I went unconscious, and then, when I woke up, like, I had a pounding in my head, like the shock went through my body. I couldn't hear - I can hardly see. I could barely walk."
After surviving their brush with death, all four went and got matching tattoos. Meanwhile, the fire chief says it is important to watch the weather.
"We always preach [that] when those conditions start to change, you need to get off the beach," the fire chief says, "Get into a sheltered area, a building or something with a hard roof over it, and just wait it out. Typically, if you're out in an open area and you hear thunder and you're still out there, you're already at risk."
