Oct 4, 2008 10:01 am US/Eastern
SHOCKER: Man Struck By Lightning Pumping Gas
Niagara County Resident: 'I Saw Orange Light And Then A White Light And Then Total Darkness; I Was Out'
Entire Ordeal Captured On Store Surveillance Cameras
BARKER, N.Y. (CBS) ―
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William Hall is counting his blessings after surviving a horrific lightning strike at an upstate New York convenience store. Surveillance cameras captured the strike from three angles.
CBS
A Niagara County man is counting his blessings after a lightning strike knocked him out cold.
And all of it was caught on camera.
What started as a routine stop for gas ended in a near death experience for 44-year-old William Hall.
"Started pumping the gas, and I seen a very bright orange light, followed by a very bright white light and then total darkness. I went out," Hall said.
Surveillance cameras at a Niagara County gas station caught the amazing video of the lightning strike.
A few minutes after Hall paid for his gas you see the flash outside. Another camera caught hall falling over. He was unconscious for about five minutes, but said he felt the current travel through him before passing out.
"I was very numb, shaky, hard to catch my breath," Hall said. "My heart was beating really rapid."
His wife, Kym, was sitting in the truck but wasn't hurt. When her husband went down, Kym wasn't sure what to think.
"I thought he dove for cover," Kym Hall said Friday, describing a bright white light and "phenomenal" crack.
Then she saw someone running from the store to check on her husband and realized what had happened.
"I started slapping him silly. People say I watch too much TV," Kym Hall said with a laugh. "He finally came to but was very incoherent. I said, 'Did you get hit by lightning?' He said 'yeah.'
"I said, 'Do we need an ambulance?' He said, 'I don't know what I need.' I said `Get an ambulance!"'
Kym Hall praised the emergency workers who rushed her husband to the hospital -- even the one who had him rub his lottery ticket for luck on the way.
Other than some small blisters on his elbow, Hall doesn't have any physical signs of his close encounter.
"Actually, I feel pretty good. Every muscle in my body is really sore. I have a slight headache, but other than that I feel great. I feel very lucky," Hall said.
Police said Hall was very lucky it was not a direct strike. The lightning bolt hit the parking lot first then traveled through him.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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