Lightning
Strikes Woman's Tongue Stud
Paraphrased
by
Steve Waldrop
July 8, 2003
An airport worker, Becky Nyang, 26, was struck by a bolt of lightning when her
lip and tongue studs acted as conductors.
Becky
and a friend were vacationing in Kavos, Corfu when they were caught in an electrical
storm on a beach.
While crossing a hotel courtyard, a flash of lightning
bounced off a nearby archway and hit her in the face, where is was conducted by
the metal jewelry in her tongue.
Doctors agree that she is lucky to be
alive. The charge was so hot that she suffered blisters on her mouth, a bruised
shoulder, and burns to her face and feet. She could barely speak for three days,
and finds sleeping difficult. Climatology experts said that Becky would have endured
temperatures of around 27, 000 degrees Fahrenheit.
While
talking to reporters, Miss Nyang said that she feared that she was going to die.
"All I could see was lightning, nothing else."
She
went on to say that,"my body shook for about 10 minutes, although I didn't
feel pain until later."
Becky agreed with the doctors that she is
a lucky young woman. "I know I was so close to losing my life and never seeing
my family and friends again. I have been given another chance and every second
is precious.
*Picture courtsey of Reading
Evening Post
