A woman who survived a lightning strike while standing at her kitchen sink has revealed the rubber soles on her runners saved her life.
Caroline Blake says she will be buying a Lotto ticket for this weekend’s draw because of how lucky she feels to be alive following the incident at her Offaly home on Tuesday.
But she insisted that the next time a thunderstorm hits, she is locking herself up in a box room with no windows - and no sink.
READ MORE: Woman hospitalised after being struck by lightning standing at kitchen sink in Offaly
The 53-year-old - who celebrated her birthday last week - had finished working at Tesco in Birr and had returned to her house in Crinkle, a nearby village.
As the county became engulfed in a heavy thunderstorm, electricity was coming on and off, so when it returned for a period she decided to make herself a cup of coffee just before 3pm.
After stirring the hot beverage, she threw the spoon into the sink before she was jolted back by a “huge explosion” and “bang” in her kitchen.
But it was only later after going to hospital, that doctors told her it was her footwear that saved her from worse injuries.
Speaking from her home, Caroline told the Irish Mirror: “I’ll think of things differently now. I could have died.
“The doctors told me it’s only because I had my runners on, because of the rubber on the soles, it saved me and also that I kept my feet firmly on the ground.
“I probably could have been burnt otherwise or worse. I honestly don’t know though.
“So I was very lucky. The scary thing is when you’re on your own, I had nobody.
“I didn’t what was going to happen. When it happened, I was in a daze for a minute or two.”
Caroline and her husband Michael believe that the lightning struck the tap on the outside of their home which is connected to the indoor sink.
Describing the moment it happened, she told us: “The whole sink just electrified up. There’s was like a huge big explosion in here and a bang and a smell.
“It threw me back a bit. It was like a thump. You know when you put your hand on an electric fence, that sort of thump on my body.
“I was disorientated then for a few minutes and I managed to get down then and got on my phone and I rang my husband.”
She added: “You could hear all the volts in the kitchen, it’s like when you plug in something and it blows up.
“I could see the sparks from the top of the sink and coming out of the sink.”
One of Caroline’s daughters came home in the meantime and insisted she go straight to Tullamore hospital, where her husband met her. She was released later that night after some tests.
Caroline - who will return to work this morning - said: “The doctor told me ‘I had never dealt with a case of lightning before’ and I said ‘I never dealt with it either!’ And we laughed.”
Caroline was inundated with locals calling into her and ringing her to check in. And she feels so lucky that she is going to buy a lottery ticket for this weekend’s draw.
She laughed: “Everyone has been slagging me to buy a lottery ticket. I haven’t bought one yet but I definitely will now because I must be lucky. I was very lucky.
“Everyone is calling and I’m telling them all I’m OK. I hate the limelight, I’d rather sit in the corner and let everyone else talk. I’m kind of embarrassed as everyone keeps asking me. But I’m glad to be alive.”
And she insists that she is not taking any risks for the next time a thunderstorm hits.
She smiled and said: “I said to the others here, the next time there’s a thunderstorm I’m going into a room where there’s no windows, no sinks and I’ll be making no more coffee.”
She added: “My advice to people is not to go near the sink when there’s lightning. Even if you’ve an outdoor tap, cover it. And when there’s lightning keep your feet firmly to the ground.
“You’d never think it now would you. Next time I’m just going to throw a towel or something over the outside tap.”
Just up the road from Caroline, her friend Theresa Ryan’s home was also struck by lightning, with her teenage son Matthew inside on his own at the time.
Just at the corner of her property, the bolt struck so hard that the tiles on the other side of the wall inside were broken into pieces.
The phoneline of the house was blown, with other items destroyed, and they had to draft in an electrician.
Her son Matthew, who is currently doing his Junior Cert, was in his bedroom at the time the lightning struck.
He told the Irish Mirror: “I was in my room and I was charging my phone and a big load of smoke came out of my phone.”
Speaking about the damage, Theresa told us: “That would have been the phone line there and it blew it out.
“Matthew’s Xbox, his television as well as the television here in the kitchen are fried and also my ESB meter, completely fried like.
“It was just before 3pm on Tuesday. I just went down town and then Matthew rang me and he was after hearing a bang.
“It frightened the life out of him. But as I said, no one was hurt, you know what I mean.
“I haven’t seen thunder and lightning like that in donkeys years.”
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