Excerpt from
THE HANDBOOK FOR LIGHTNING STRIKE SURVIVORS

After I was struck, I lived dangerously. I couldn’t sleep, so I went out to bars. I cheated on my girlfriend. I did things I wouldn’t have thought about doing before the strike.

I was a lifeguard. It was thundering, but way off in the distance, so I didn’t think to tell the kids to get out of the pool. I could’ve blown the whistle. Instead, my whistle melted into my chest. My head and neck were wet and burned. The current traveled through the lifeguard stand and me. No one died, but one boy has permanent brain damage. I have guilt. I should’ve gotten all of them out of the pool.

I don’t sleep. I take tranquilizers, but still at night I feel awake. I feel that whistle burned into my chest. In a semi–dream state, I think my heart might stop any second. Everyone thinks I should be better. It’s been two years, but I’m not close to better, and it seems like yesterday.

Account by Shankleford J., Austin, Texas