Bored Panda works better on our iPhone app
Continue in app Continue in browser

The Bored Panda iOS app is live! Fight boredom with iPhones and iPads here.

Teen Zapped By Lightning Inside House While Using Her Phone After Making Common Mistake
Teen using phone inside house, highlighting lightning safety risks and common mistakes teens make during storms.
2

Teen Zapped By Lightning Inside House While Using Her Phone After Making Common Mistake

22

ADVERTISEMENT

A 19-year-old teen in Alabama was struck by lightning while watching a video on her phone.

The electric jolt, which was ushered in with a loud bang and a popping noise, left her in tears with the sensation of pins and needles in her right arm and temporary memory loss.

Doctors have since described her as lucky, saying that if she were holding her mobile in her left hand, the shock was sure to have reached her heart.

Highlights
  • Alabama teen Lisa Henderson survived her second lightning strike, this time through a phone charging cable while watching a video.
  • The 19-year-old suffered intense shoulder pain, pins and needles in her arm, and couldn’t recall her birthday when paramedics arrived.
  • Henderson believes divine intervention protected her, crediting quick reflexes—like throwing the phone—as key to her survival.
RELATED:

    Henderson heard a bang and a pop, then felt pins and needles in her right arm 

    Lightning striking near suburban houses at night illustrating danger of teen zapped by lightning inside house using phone.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Image credits: Scott Osborn (Not the actual photo)

    “As I was watching a video, that’s when something struck. After that I heard a loud pop. After the loud pop all I heard was ringing in my ears,” Lisa Henderson toldThe Times Daily.

    According to Franklin County’s Emergency Management Agency, lightning had struck the house, sending a power surge through its mains, which then carried through Henderson’s connected charging cable.

    While her pinkie finger was zapped, her mobile remains in pristine condition.

    Teen girl indoors wearing glasses and a light shirt, illustrating teen zapped by lightning inside house using phone.

    Image credits: lisa henderson

    Henderson’s fiancé, Conner Welborn, who witnessed her ordeal on the evening of June 29, claimed that she had thrown her phone—still plugged into the mains—onto the bed they had been lying on before “bawling her eyes off.” 

    Henderson does not remember much more than seeing bolts of lightning through her tears 

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Seeing his girlfriend’s distress, he called for help from relatives and dialed 911.

    “You know how it feels when you’re brushing with an electric toothbrush, that kind of vibration that is in your hand?” Henderson said of the experience.

    Teen in hospital bed receiving IV treatment after lightning strike inside house while using phone during storm.

    Image credits: Stephen Andrews (Not the actual photo)

     

    “It was kind of like that but stinging. The back part of my shoulder blade hurt worse than the rest of me.”

    “I don’t remember walking from the back to the front of the house,’ Henderson’s account continued. “I just remember standing by the door, while I was still crying, and the lightning striking.”

    The strike wiped her memory temporarily

    Teen holding phone outside house under tree, related to lightning zap incident caused by common mistake indoors.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Image credits: WHNT News 19

    ADVERTISEMENT

    “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.”

    As a testimony to her confusion, she could not remember some of the most basic details of her personal life.

    Teen with glasses and dark hair speaking outdoors near parked cars, related to incident of teen zapped by lightning inside house using phone.

    Image credits: WHNT News 19

    “They (emergency responders) asked me about my birthday, and it took me a minute,” she recalled. “I was having trouble processing. I could understand people but was having trouble communicating with them.”

    According to Welborn, Henderson’s blood pressure at the time had reached a high of 170.

    Henderson credited divine intervention for her survival, saying: “I think [God] was protecting me because if not, I would probably have been electrocuted.”

    ADVERTISEMENT

    ADVERTISEMENT

    “He gave me enough strength to at least throw my phone away from me.”

    Lighting does strike twice in the same place—for Henderson at least

    Henderson’s existence lays waste to the popular adage that lightning does not strike twice in the same place. It was in her childhood that she had her first brush with nature’s voltage.

    Close-up of a teen with red hair and piercing, symbolizing the danger of lightning strikes inside the house while using a phone.

    Image credits: lisa henderson

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

    ADVERTISEMENT

    She admitted that she could not help but see the humor, especially since she has a track record of questionable luck.

    She has been texting everyone about her shocking experience 

    Close-up of a teen with dark hair and septum piercing, illustrating danger of being zapped by lightning inside house using phone.

    Image credits: lisa henderson

    She gave another example: “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 has since been texting her friends, telling them about her “shocking experience.”

    She has also warned the public against using their phones during electrical storms.

    Some netizens think Henderson’s experience is a way to get teens of their phones

    Text of a social media post recalling a girl struck by lightning on a landline phone in the 1990s, relating to teen zapped by lightning inside house.

    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT

    Teen using phone inside house during lightning storm, illustrating common mistake causing lightning zap indoors.

    Teen shocked by lightning inside house while using phone, highlighting dangers of common safety mistake with devices indoors.

    Warning text about not touching electrical devices plugged into house outlets during a lightning storm to prevent teen lightning zap inside house.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Image of a social media comment mentioning a nose ring, related to teen zapped by lightning inside house using phone after common mistake.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Teen girl shocked by lightning inside house while using phone after making common safety mistake during storm.

    Text message on a phone screen reading Get your houses grounding fixed, warning about lightning safety inside the house.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Comment about teen zapped by lightning inside house while using phone, expressing doubt about injury and phone damage.

    Teen zapped by lightning inside house while using phone, highlighting dangers of common safety mistakes during storms.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Text post on social media with wording about teen zapped by lightning inside house while using phone after common mistake.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Teen zapped by lightning inside house while using phone, highlighting dangers of common electrical mistakes indoors.

    Teen zapped by lightning inside house while using phone, highlighting the dangers of common electrical safety mistakes indoors.

    Comment text on a white background about a teen zapped by lightning inside house while using her phone.

    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT

    Comment text on a white background with blue username, discussing the importance of having a surge protector during a lightning zap incident.

    Poll Question

    Total votes ·

    Thanks! Check out the results:

    Total votes ·
    Share on Facebook
    Dave Malyon

    Dave Malyon

    Writer, Entertainment News Writer

    Read more »

    A writer with a journey spanning hard news, food, and culture, with bylines in The Epoch Times, NTD, Dented Armour, Tasting Table, and Mashed. At Bored Panda the focus has pivoted to entertainment, tracking celebrity newsmakers, Hollywood drama, and viral stories while vying to give more substance and less surface.

    Read less »
    Dave Malyon

    Dave Malyon

    Writer, Entertainment News Writer

    A writer with a journey spanning hard news, food, and culture, with bylines in The Epoch Times, NTD, Dented Armour, Tasting Table, and Mashed. At Bored Panda the focus has pivoted to entertainment, tracking celebrity newsmakers, Hollywood drama, and viral stories while vying to give more substance and less surface.

    What do you think ?
    nichomach
    Community Member
    5 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    "Get off your g*dd*am phone! God told you!"

    nichomach
    Community Member
    5 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    "Get off your g*dd*am phone! God told you!"

    Related on Bored Panda
    Popular on Bored Panda
    Trending on Bored Panda
    Also on Bored Panda
    ADVERTISEMENT