Chris Robinson, a 63-year-old skip hire driver, is lucky to be alive after he was struck by a powerful lightning bolt whilst going about his work.
The 300,000 volt strike was so powerful that it threw Chris 10ft from his truck and left him unconscious as he was unloading a skip at a Great Yarmouth industrial estate.
Mr Robinson was out cold for about ten minutes until he came to and found himself lying on the ground with no feeling in his legs and right arm. Eventually, he crawled back to his truck and managed to drag himself up on to his feet.
Here’s the bit where Chris wins ‘employee of the century award’ as, amazingly, he then kept on working! Now that’s dedication. It was only when he began to feel sharp aches and pains and a sensation of stones in his boots, over five hours later, that Mr Robinson eventually took a trip to the James Paget University Hospital.
It had only just begun to rain when Chris arrived at the location, but the rain quickly turned to severe hail.
“I got out and got beside the lorry and put my coat over my head to shelter myself from the rain. The next thing I knew I felt an explosion in my head and ended up 10ft away from the lorry and I was like a jelly. There was no feeling in my arms or legs,” Mr Robinson explained.
He described hearing a loud bang, similar to “a shot from a 12-bore gun,” before being rendered unconscious.
It was only afterwards, when he spoke to another driver who had seen the lightning bolt strike in his direction, that Mr Robinson realised just what had happened to him.
Incredibly, the only treatment he required, following the incident, was a bandage for the blisters on his feet! After several tests, Chris was then given the all-clear by hospital staff.
It’s unlikely that Mr Robinson will ever forget the experience. Especially as his five-year-old granddaughter, Darcie, now calls him “Grandad Sparky” and his workmates at EE Green & Son have started referring to him simply as “Flash”!
Reflecting on his amazingly lucky survival, Mr Robinson said: “It is incredible really. I can’t get over it. I am a big bloke and to be thrown that far is amazing.”
If we give you the money, will you go and put our lottery tickets on for us please, Chris?
