Sean Ramsay doesn’t remember hearing the thunderclap or seeing the flash of lightning that sent a powerful current of electricity through his body, but the pain he’s in is a constant reminder that he’s lucky to be alive.
“I feel really sore today,” the 24-year-old propane delivery worker told reporters Wednesday, at the place where it all happened just 24 hours earlier.
Ramsay was working at the Fort Victoria RV Park in View Royal Tuesday morning when an uncharacteristic thunderstorm rolled over the South Island.
As he filled up an RV with propane, a bolt of lightning struck a tree about three metres away. Ramsay felt a shock of agonizing pain course through his body and dropped to the ground.
“That’s what I’m being told. I didn’t actually see the lightning and I didn’t hear the thunder, but someone across from the trailer park here saw it hit the tree and saw me go down,” he recalled, though the details are still hazy. “It kind of felt like someone had put a thousand pounds of weight on every part of my body at the same time. My muscles were fully contracted and I couldn’t move for a few seconds, but it’s all a bit of a blur.”
Somehow in spite of the pain and shock he was in, Ramsay was able to remember the line was still pumping propane from his truck into the RV.
“Right after it happened I was concerned because that’s some of my safety training,” Ramsay said. “After it happened I made my way to the truck and shut it off as best I could to make sure everything was safe.”
View Royal Acting Fire Chief Rob Marshall says those actions may have prevented a possible explosion, so Ramsay wasn’t just a victim of a lightning strike – he was a hero.
“We were kind of in awe when we showed up. Even though he had been struck by lightning, the amount of pain that he was in, he still had the wherewithal to shut the truck down, shut the nozzle down, disconnect it from the RV,” he said. “He actually even had a passerby chock the tires on the truck so it wouldn’t roll away.”
Marshall was part of the crew of firefighters who responded to a 911 call from a park resident.
He said the fire hall, conveniently located just down the street from the RV Park, had shaken from the force of the thunder and firefighters thought the building had been struck.
Moments later, they were called to the RV park for a report of an electrocution.
“This is the first time in my career we’ve been paged out for electrocution caused by lightning,” said Marshall, who’s been with the department for 17 years. “Extremely rare. It’s rare to get the lightning in Victoria, let alone for someone to get hit by lightning.”
Marshall said it’s unclear exactly what path the lightning took to get to Ramsay, but it’s still miraculous he was even conscious when they arrived on scene.
“It grounded to him either directly through the tree or through the ground. So to show up to a call like that and to see that he’s talking, he’s awake, in an extreme amount of pain was kind of a real surprise for us,” he said.
Ramsay was rushed to hospital where doctors performed blood tests and made sure his vitals were stable. He was released later that night with no significant injuries other than muscle pain.
After speaking with Marshall, Ramsay arranged to meet the firefighters who helped keep him calm throughout the terrifying ordeal.
On Wednesday, crew members extended a handshake to the man who survived being struck by lightning, but instead, Ramsay reeled each one of them in for a hug.
“After it happened, I was in a lot of pain as well as just being extraordinarily scared. These guys were here within a few minutes and they were calming me down, they had oxygen on me, they were all there for me,” he said.
Despite the experience, Ramsay is still maintaining a sense of humour, grinning each time – and there have been many – someone tells him to buy a lottery ticket.
“Everyone keeps telling me that, so I guess I’ll probably have to buy one today,” he said. “No superpowers yet, but everyone tells me by the end of the week I’ll be saving Victoria from crime.”
Sean Ramsay hugs the firefighters who administered first aid and helped keep him calm after he was struck by lightning in a View Royal RV Park. May 31, 2017. (CTV Vancouver Island)
