Being struck by lightning was ‘shocking experience’

RUSSELLVILLE — Lisa Henderson was lying on her bed, scrolling through social media sites on her phone and enjoying a cozy, rainy Sunday afternoon with her fiancé.

Suddenly, a bright flash went off outside.

“As I was watching a video, that’s when something struck,” the 19-year-old said. “After that I heard a loud pop. After the loud pop all I heard was ringing in my ears.”

Henderson’s hands tingled painfully as the feeling shot all the way up her right arm to her right shoulder. She did not realize what was going on, but a lightning strike surged through the outlet, extension cord and charging cord of her cellphone, ultimately striking her.

Henderson’s fiancé, Conner Welborn, said she was barely able to move her hands.

“She was bawling her eyes off,” Welborn said. “She had thrown the phone on the bed.”

He called for family members and called 911 as he moved her to the front of the house and awaited an ambulance. Henderson was dazed by the situation.

“I don’t remember walking from the back to the front of the house,” she said. “I just remember standing by the door, while I was still crying and the lightning striking. I was still terrified of it. I was sitting there just looking around and hearing the ambulance. All I know is I was in pain. It hurt, and I didn’t know what was going on.

Ambulance workers arrived and began asking her questions. Henderson initially could not tell them her name. She said she was 18 and almost responded that it was April when they asked the month.

“They asked me my birthday, and it took me a minute,” she said. “I was having trouble processing. I could understand people but was having trouble communicating with them.”

Welborn said the top reading of Henderson’s blood pressure was in the 160 to 170 range at that point.

Today, Henderson is thankful she survived. Her right shoulder still hurts. She said it feels like it was hit by a child’s toy baseball bat.

She said her right pinky was hurt initially because it was resting on the cord connection, but it is fine now.

CONTRIBUTED BY DAN BUSEY
Lisa Henderson talks about being shocked by a lightning strike on June 29 in Russellville.

“Luckily, I tossed my phone out of my hand, because it could have been worse than it was,” Henderson said. “You know how it feels when you’re brushing with an electric toothbrush, that kind of vibration that is in your hand? It was kind of like that but stinging. The back part of my shoulder blade hurt worse than the rest of me.”

They said if I was a little bit smaller and if it was on the other side, it probably would have done more damage because that’s closer to the heart,” Henderson said.”

The lifetime odds of a person being struck by lightning in the United States is 1 in 15,300, according to the National Weather Service, but what makes this rarer is this is the second time Henderson has been struck.

She said she cannot remember how old she was the first time, but she was a child when lightning struck her while she was playing.

“I was just outside,” Henderson said. “I wanted to play. That’s all I know. I was taken to the hospital. I remember they gave me a popsicle.”

She was hospitalized for two days and released after a full recovery.

Henderson has a good sense of humor about the occurrences.

“In a situation like that I find it funny because I tend to have bad luck,” she said. “I fell through my apartment floor before. I fell onto this woman’s couch. She looked at me. I looked at her. She led me out of the apartment.”

Henderson said she texted family and friends after Sunday’s event, saying, “Hey, if you want to know how my day went, it was a shocking experience.”

She said she believes God has had a hand in making sure the strikes were not fatal.

“I think he was protecting me because if not I would probably have been electrocuted,” Henderson said. “He gave me enough strength to at least throw my phone away from me.”