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Becky survives holiday horror lightning strike [lip and tongue piercings alert]
ic.Berkshire.co ^ | Jul 3 2003 | Ollie Stallwood, Reading Chronicle

Posted on 07/05/2003 8:59:55 AM PDT by aculeus

BECKY Nyang was left feeling a little down in the mouth after a brush with death when she was struck by lightning on the Greek holiday isle of Corfu.

The 26-year-old special service agent for Virgin at Heathrow is still shaken and recovering at her west Reading home after the lightning bolt zeroed in on her lip and tongue piercings.

The drama began when she and a friend were forced to flee the beach at Kavos by an approaching storm and Becky was crossing the courtyard of their hotel.

She said: "When it hit me all I could see was lightning. It was a bright blue and I couldn't see anything else. My body was shaking for 10 minutes."

Temporarily blinded and unable to speak she suffered burns to her mouth - where the lighting hit the two metal piercings - and a large bruise on her shoulder at the point of impact.

Two weeks later Becky, of Argyle Road, still finds sleeping difficult and is getting fed up with people joking about the holiday recharging her batteries.

Doctors say she suffered no cardiac damage but her heart muscle was affected by the lightning strike, releasing enzymes into her blood, and she must undergo a series of tests before being allowed to return to work.

Becky admitted: "I feel a bit different within myself as I know how close I came to losing my life, and never seeing my loved ones again.

"I have been given a second chance at life and every second is precious. I thank God I'm alive."


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Miscellaneous; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: greece; lightningstrikes; piercings; virgin; virginairlines; zot
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1 posted on 07/05/2003 8:59:55 AM PDT by aculeus
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To: aculeus
Given some of the places that get pierced, it could have been a lot worse.
2 posted on 07/05/2003 9:01:55 AM PDT by Tijeras_Slim (The Preview button is for wimps!)
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To: aculeus
Put some ice on it.

So9

3 posted on 07/05/2003 9:03:26 AM PDT by Servant of the Nine (Ouchie Ouchie Ouchie)
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To: Tijeras_Slim
Given some of the places that get pierced, it could have been a lot worse.


>^>^>^>ZOT!>^>^>^> Mmm, that felt good!

4 posted on 07/05/2003 9:06:58 AM PDT by mountaineer
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To: mountaineer
I know him! His name is Van De Graff isn't it?
5 posted on 07/05/2003 9:07:50 AM PDT by Tijeras_Slim (The Preview button is for wimps!)
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To: aculeus
What exactly does a "special service agent for Virgin" do, anyway?
6 posted on 07/05/2003 9:08:03 AM PDT by AF68
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To: aculeus
Nothing like having your tongue turned into a bacon strip.
7 posted on 07/05/2003 9:09:05 AM PDT by ErnBatavia (Bumperootus!)
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To: aculeus
ZOT!
8 posted on 07/05/2003 9:10:06 AM PDT by gitmo (Some days you're the dog; some days you're the hydrant.)
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To: aculeus
This storoy begs the question: did she subsequently remove the metal paraphrenalia -- or not??? If not, I hold no sympathy for this bimbo.
9 posted on 07/05/2003 9:12:04 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
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To: gitmo

I guess Barney has gone punk on us...
10 posted on 07/05/2003 9:12:21 AM PDT by Tijeras_Slim (The Preview button is for wimps!)
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To: AF68
"What exactly does a "special service agent for Virgin" do, anyway?"

Virgin is an airline. Not sure if it was named to shock, or named after Elizabeth I, the virgin queen, as is Virginia.


11 posted on 07/05/2003 9:12:54 AM PDT by jocon307 (Enough is enough, and that's too much - Pearl Gould)
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To: mountaineer
Lovely. All he's missing are the copper neck-stretching rings and the plate in his lower lip.
12 posted on 07/05/2003 9:12:58 AM PDT by AF68
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To: jocon307
Virgin Airlines is owned by Richard Branson, owner of Virgin Records.
13 posted on 07/05/2003 9:16:35 AM PDT by Hillary's Lovely Legs (You're not too smart. I like that in a man.)
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To: jocon307
Not sure if it was named to shock, or named after Elizabeth I, the virgin queen, as is Virginia.

It is rumored, even to this day, that Miss Queen Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII and Ann Bolyn, didn't miss near as much as some people assumed she missed.

In other words, Virgin Queen was probably just an honorary title.

I hope the gal hit by lightning only had mouth piercings. And I trust she's discarded them by now, unless the lightning welded them in place.

14 posted on 07/05/2003 9:56:08 AM PDT by Ole Okie
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To: aculeus
Lucky she didn't have braces in her mouth.
15 posted on 07/05/2003 9:56:18 AM PDT by Prodigal Son
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To: afraidfortherepublic
This storoy begs the question: did she subsequently remove the metal paraphrenalia -- or not??? If not, I hold no sympathy for this bimbo.

Lightning that has just jumped 2000 feet through the air is not going to care whether your body has a little metal or not in it. She would have been hit even if she had no metal within 100 yards of her body.

16 posted on 07/05/2003 9:57:50 AM PDT by jlogajan
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To: aculeus
The 26-year-old special service agent for Virgin at Heathrow is still shaken and recovering at her west Reading home after the lightning bolt zeroed in on her lip and tongue piercings.

This is typical pig ignorant media reporting. Lightning is not "attracted" to metal. Lightning is just trying to follow the path of least resistance to ground. After breaking down normally non-conductive air, thousands of feet worth, a tiny bit of metal in the path makes no difference.

She was hit because she was standing in the path where lightning was going to strike anyhow. It had nothing to do with her, or any small amount of metal in the vicinity.

17 posted on 07/05/2003 10:02:57 AM PDT by jlogajan
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To: jlogajan
Yes, you are right, of course. It has surprised me how many people actually DO get struck by lightening. I recall hearing some stories people who had their sight or hearing being restored after such an event. And I remember a woman in NYC who was in a phone booth which got struck by lightening, she was killed. Scary, you wouldn't think that would happen in such an urban environment.
18 posted on 07/05/2003 10:30:54 AM PDT by jocon307 (Enough is enough, and that's too much - Pearl Gould)
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To: aculeus
You're grounded!
19 posted on 07/05/2003 10:34:56 AM PDT by ChefKeith (NASCAR...everything else is just a game!)
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To: AF68
Very PC of you not to mention the bone through the nose.

Not that there appears to be room for it.
20 posted on 07/05/2003 11:38:57 AM PDT by lambo
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