Teen survives lightning strike, then gets winning lottery

Source: Agencies  |   2008-6-14  |     ONLINE EDITION

NO one quite understands the term "striking it lucky" better than 16-year-old BreAnna Helsel.

The Michigan teen survived being struck by lightning and went on to win US$20 in the lottery the next day.

Helsel was at her home in Blanchard, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Grand Rapids, watching thunderstorms roll by on June 6 when she noticed rain entering an open kitchen window.

"She went to close the window, and the lightning came through and hit her," her mother, Linda Johnson, told The Daily News of Greenville. "We think it must have hit the house or something."

Helsel struggled to describe the sensation she felt as the electricity passed through her body.

"It felt like when your foot falls asleep," she said.

Helsel said she saw the electricity shoot out of her fingers and into the overhead lights, immediately knocking out the house's power.

At first, the teenager didn't want to see a doctor, but when she started complaining about a tingling sensation in her arm, she and her mother drove to the hospital.

She had some darkened fingertips on her right hand and will require therapy to repair some damaged muscles in her arm, but she's expected to fully recover.

"Everyone said I'm really lucky," she said.

Hospital employees suggested that since Helsel was on such a lucky streak, she should immediately play the lottery. She's too young, so her mother bought a lottery ticket for her the next day.

"And we won US$20," Johnson said, laughing. "What a way to start the summer."