Jimmy Rogers was returning from a successful day's fishing when he literally got the strike of his life.
Lightning bolts were flashing and crashing to the ground as he entered his Darwin front yard following a humid, sweat-filled Top End afternoon.
"As I was coming through the gate, a bolt of lightning hit the fence," Mr Rogers told ABC Radio Darwin's Tales From The Tinny.
"I could feel it through the padlock. It was a big electric shock straight through my hand and foot."
The force of the strike was so big, Mr Rogers crashed to the ground.
"I had chest pains and tingling through my face. I wasn't in a good way," the fisherman said.
"I was in a fair bit of shock."
Mr Rogers went to hospital, and after tests were taken that night, he eventually received the all-clear.
"Have you ever had popping candy? That's what it felt like through the left side of my body and in my chest," he said.
"I initially thought, 'I'm in trouble here.'"
He's received further monitoring over the past week, and at one point had tubes and cords stuck across his face and chest.
"I've got a new nickname now — Buzz Lightyear," Mr Rogers said.
'What just happened?'
He's not the only one caught in a lightning storm this month.
Litchfield National Park, about 100 kilometres south of Darwin, is known for its stunning waterfalls but also plays host to ferocious wet season storms.
While exiting a popular swimming spot last weekend, Dijana Damjanovic told ABC Radio Darwin she was given the fright of her life.
"I was walking across this rock and leant on a tree. As soon as my finger connected with the tree, I got zapped from my finger to my elbow," Ms Damjanovic said.
"The sky went white and there was a really loud crash. I screamed at the top of my lungs, ripped my hand away, looked at my friend and said 'what just happened?'"
What are the chances of getting struck?
Since the start of September, there have been hundreds of thousands of lightning strikes within a 150 kilometre radius of Darwin, according to Weatherzone meteorologist Corine Brown.
"In terms of cloud and ground strikes combined, there's been 925,000," Ms Brown said.
"Regarding total ground strikes, you're looking at 69,000. In terms of lightning density, that's slightly above average."
There are between five and 10 deaths caused by lightning strikes per year in Australia and more than 100 people are seriously injured annually.
When there's an electrical storm in the Top End, nowhere is safe but indoors according to lightning risk mitigation technologist Grant Kirkby.
"Darwin is lightning alley," Mr Kirkby said.
"If you can see lightning and hear thunder, you're already at risk. You should go indoors.
"95-97 per cent of strikes are indirect, but they're the ones that injure."
Mr Kirkby said the injuries stemming from lightning strikes are wide-ranging.
"Abnormal heart arrhythmia can occur. You really need to head straight to hospital if it does," he said.
"There's also damage to nerves, burns to the skin, damage to organs.
"Hearing impairment can also happen, and people have been temporarily blinded, too."
