A 48-year-old British tourist has been left “fighting for her life” after she was struck by lightning on a beach in Split, Croatia.
According to the MailOnline, the woman, who has been named only as Danielle, had been sunbathing with her 19-year-old daughter on Kašjuni Beach on Saturday (August 21) before the sudden storm rolled in. As per reports, her head was struck by a 300-million-volt lightning bolt, which was said to have been conducted through a necklace she was wearing.
Thankfully, the mother-of-two was treated at the scene by a paramedic who was on call for the Marjenski Dir triathlon after he was alerted to the screams. “The woman received medical assistance at the scene and was transported to the hospital where she was kept for further treatment, her life is in danger,” local police said in a statement.
Professor Sandra Stojanovic Stipic, who works at KBC Hospital and is treating the woman, told MailOnline: “The woman is in a medical coma and we are monitoring her continually. She was very fortunate the first responders were so quick as the lightning hit her head and the necklace took the energy through her body.”
Recalling the incident, a waiter from a nearby bar, Joe’s, said: “One minute, everyone was sunbathing happily on the beach, the next the sky turned as black as night and a massive thunderstorm was overhead—the lightning was something I have never seen before, with really bright flashes, and you could hear them fizzing. Everyone was rushing off the beach and then, at one point, there was a massive bang and a lightning flash at the same time and I looked out and saw the woman on the floor and her daughter with her. Several people rushed to help her and then a doctor arrived to give first aid.”
According to medical studies, the chances of being struck by lightning are said to be one in a million, although, in the UK, 30-60 people are struck by lightning every year, with three on average being fatal.
