Caught on Camera: biologist struck by lightning in the Everglades

Writer: Rachel Murphy
Published: Updated:

A wildlife biologist was struck by lightning on camera while wading in the swamps of the Everglades.

Forrest Galante was in the water while recording a video, which he has since posted on YouTube showing the strike flashing just behind him.

“I got hit. I felt it. I got hit. That hurt,” Galante said after the strike, quickly running for aboveground.

Galante said the lightning struck about 15 feet behind him. He was blinded by the flash.

After the event, Galante said the parts of his body near the water’s surface were sore and a metallic taste lingered in his mouth.

Mitchell Long, Galante’s cameraman, had one foot in the water and said he felt the blast in his chest.

According to the National Weather Service, “When lightning strikes a tree or other object, much of the energy travels outward from the strike in and along the ground surface.”

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