A woman in Australia was struck by lightning while filming a thunderstorm. Despite escaping death and eventually making a full recovery, she was left with some aftereffects, including her eyes changing from green to deep brown.
According to the New York Post on March 28, the 30-year-old comedian Carly Electric resides in Queensland, Australia. In 2023, she was struck by lightning while filming a thunderstorm, leading to a series of symptoms.
Carly Electric described how goosebumps appeared on her arms. Upon looking in the mirror, she noticed her pupils had become dilated. She felt like she was “drugged,” sweating all over, feeling dizzy and almost euphoric.
Suddenly, things took a more terrifying turn. Her limbs lost all sensation, rendering her unable to move at all. She immediately asked her roommate to call an ambulance.
By the time the ambulance arrived, her hands and feet had turned completely blue. Besides her head and neck, her entire body was immobile. Though conscious, she struggled to breathe and soon could only gulp air.
The last thing she remembers is doctors surrounding her in the hospital before she slipped into a coma for several hours. She was diagnosed with lightning paralysis, a temporary condition that causes temporary paralysis of the limbs when a person is struck by lightning.
Carly Electric remained immobile for 9 hours until the sensation returned to her limbs, still speaking unclearly.
Although she eventually fully recovered, she was surprised to discover that the color of her eyes had changed from green to deep brown.
She said, “When I searched online, I found that cases of such changes in people struck by lightning are not uncommon.”
She also mentioned that aside from the change in eye color, the area on her head struck by lightning was “very sensitive” and “felt hot,” forcing her to be gentle when combing her hair around that spot.
Jokingly, she mentioned that the lightning strike incident has improved her dating life, as men are interested in hearing about her near-death experience. “I truly believe it was a stroke of lucky lightning because my life has been so much better since then.”
However, she pointed out that she still gets goosebumps whenever there’s a storm approaching.
Events where eye color changes due to lightning strikes, such as Carly Electric’s case, were also reported in Haleyville, Alabama in 2017.
According to WDRB TV station, a 16-year-old girl working at a McDonald’s fast-food restaurant was struck by lightning, leading to an improvement in her eyesight, no longer needing to wear glasses, and a slight lightening of her eye color from deep green.
Doctors mentioned that it was the first time they had seen or heard of such a thing but considered it a fantastic occurrence, expressing their utmost joy for her.