Horrific NYC lightning strike seriously injures teen in Central Park during freak thunderstorm
A teenager suffered burns to his neck after being struck by lightning in Central Park as he sheltered beneath a tree during a freak thunderstorm in New York.
The abrupt change of weather that residents off-guard Thursday afternoon when the skies quickly turned, bringing torrential rain with roaring thunder and bright lightning bolts striking across the city.
The teen, who was near 101st Street and Fifth Avenue, was standing under a tree when a bolt struck around 3:40 pm, the FDNY told CBS News.
According to police, the electric current was transferred from the tree to a metal chain the boy was wearing around his neck.
'We found him sitting on the path right there,' a police officer told The Daily News. 'He was still conscious. He's lucky to be alive.'
The boy was transported to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where he remains in stable condition.
His name has not been released.
Crystal Mateo, 17, was walking nearby when the lightning struck. She witnessed the teen collapse immediately after the flash.
'It was scary,' Mateo told The New York Times. 'I was crying.'
Near where the 17-year-old had seen the boy stands a towering elm, about 75 feet tall, Mateo said, explaining that its base was littered with abandoned water bottles, cookie packages, and a volleyball - suggesting a picnic interrupted by the storm.
The area near the terrifying strike was roped off with yellow police tape for about an hour as rain continued to pour over the park, The New York Times reported.
The storm, which quickly intensified, prompted the National Weather Service to issue a severe thunderstorm warning for the city.
Just hours after the unexpected bolt, around 5:15 pm, the storm had passed, and the sun was out again, with people walking dogs in the park.
Though lightning strikes are rare in New York City, experts warn they remain a serious threat during sudden storms like the one Thursday afternoon.
'I've never heard of that happening in the city, especially in the park like that,' one concerned Upper East Side resident, Robert LePlae, said.
The odds of being struck by lightning in any given year are less than one in a million, though almost 90 percent of victims survive.
Despite the low odds, lightning is one of the leading causes of weather-related deaths in the United States.
From 2009 to 2018, an average of 27 Americans were killed by lightning each year, according to the National Weather Service.
In 2021, a 13-year-old boy was fatally struck while at Orchard Beach in the Bronx.
As authorities continue to monitor the teenager's recovery, the incident serves as a reminder of the dangers posed by sudden and severe weather.
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