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Huge Lightning Blast Misses Man by Seconds
- Published_at:2012-08-30
- Category:News & Politics
- Channel:golbalviralnewsn
- tags: Motorist, narrowly, escaped, death, after, Lightning, Rips, Tree, Down
- description: A motorist narrowly escaped death after a lightning bolt sent part of a tree hurtling towards the spot he was stood just five seconds earlier. Bernard Williams, 55, from Pudsey, West Yorkshire, had just left his car to run into his house during a thunderstorm when a bolt of lightning sent a 10ft-long piece of wood hurtling across the road. It smashed the car's back window - where he had been stood moments before - and ended up in an alleyway next to his house after taking a tail light with it. CCTV footage taken on the property's security camera shows Mr Williams arriving back home in torrential rain and then grabbing his gym bag before running towards the front door of the house. But just four seconds after leaving the car there is a flash and lightning hits the tree and blows it apart. Jagged pieces of wood can be seen flying across the road hitting the car and neighbouring houses. His wife, Alison, 43, watched the scene unfold and saw how close he came to being killed. She said: 'If he had been stood at the car seconds later he would almost certainly have been killed or maimed.' Mr Williams, an assistant head teacher, had arrived home after a gym session and his wife Alison was seconds behind him in her car. Mrs Williams, a deputy head teacher, added: 'Just seconds after Bernard had parked up and grabbed his gym bag, the tree across suddenly lit up. 'There was a terrific explosion and pieces of the tree flew across the road. 'Bernard was very lucky because a large lump of wood smashed into the car and narrowly missed him. 'He had just grabbed his gym bag and was running into the house when it happened.' Pieces of the 40-feet high willow tree smashed a neighbours window and tore off tiles in another nearby house. Today, engineers removed the damaged tree, from across the road in Hough Top, Pudsey. Mr Williams said he was hoping that insurers don't write off his nine years old Vauxhall Zafira when they examine it. He said: 'What happened did leave me a bit shocked but I didn't even know it was a lightning strike. 'For some reason I thought it was a sonic boom that had shattered the back window of the car. 'It was only when Alison rang from her car to see if I was alright that I realised what had happened. 'If I had been standing by the car just seconds later, I hate to think what would have happened.'
| ranked in date | views | likes | Comments | ranked in country (#position) |
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| 2012-09-05 | 67,457 | 107 | 27 |
( ,#92)
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| 2012-09-06 | 78,193 | 111 | 29 |
(,#76)
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