What are the chances you'll get hit by lightning in your lifetime? One in 1,000,000,000? Okay, I'm making that up -- I don't actually know the stat, but can we all agree it's pretty high up there?
Problem is: I'm betting one couple -- who were so busy taking a romantic selfie that they didn't realize they were about to be struck by lightning -- thought the exact same thing. And yet, they, THANKFULLY, are alive to tell about the time when they almost didn't make it AND were able to catch the whole thing on video.
Luis Morales Fukutake and his girlfriend were taking a sweet swim while on vacation in Cancun, Mexico and decided to film the moment. Who can blame them? The scenery is just splendid and, clouds or no clouds, I'd want to jump right into the peaceful blue-green water, too.
But we all need to remember what our moms told us and stay FAR away from bodies of water when the weather looks like it might take a turn for the worse. As the couple soon learned, Mother Nature doesn't provide fair warning prior to throwing down a lightning bolt. It comes and it comes fast and furious. Fukutake and his love jumped out of their skin when the bolt hit a point too close for comfort -- and they were able to catch the incident on camera.
As frightening as this looks, this couple lucked out. A 20-year-old man named Nick Fagnano from Los Angeles was hit by lightning while on the beach this past weekend and, sadly, he did not survive. In this case, the young man was reportedly swimming in the ocean when the bolt struck him.
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These terrible and terrifying incidences serve as important reminders that we should avoid the beach or lake when a storm approaches. As pretty as dramatic gray clouds may make everything look, it is NOT worth the risk.
Here's the video of the couple as they were nearly hit by lightning in Mexico:
See this video on The Stir by CafeMom.
Have you ever taken a chance and gone swimming during a storm?
Image via clay53012/Flickr