The weather phenomenon — which also killed a dog — occurred in the Australian city of Perth on Thursday, Feb. 26, and also injured the teen's friend and a 78-year-old man
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/georgia-perth-lightning-strike-022626-1-cfc38153d5b9472399faf37ae5dfc5aa.jpg "Three struck by lightning as summer storm lashes Perth")
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NEED TO KNOW
- Three people were struck by lighting on one day in an “incredibly rare” weather phenomenon
- The incident occurred in the Western Australian city of Perth on Thursday, Feb. 26
- Georgia Rizzi, 16, described how she felt her ‘spine vibrate,’ while her school friend and 78-year-old Michael Day were also injured. Day’s dog, Messi, was killed in the storm
Three people were struck by lightning in an “incredibly rare” event in Perth, Australia.
As a storm swept the city in Western Australia on the morning of Thursday, Feb. 26, it injured three people and killed a dog.
Per News.com.au, Michael Day, 78, was struck while walking his dog in the suburb of Hamersley at about 8.30 a.m. local time. A St John WA Ambulance service spokesperson confirmed to the outlet that multiple crews attended the incident and transferred Day to the hospital with “serious” injuries. Sadly, Day’s dog, Messi, died at the scene, the spokesperson added.
The man’s daughter, Karen, noted to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that her father’s "T-shirt had been shredded” when he was struck, adding that Michael was still in hospital in a “lot of pain” but that the family was “so relieved” it wasn’t more serious. “Everyone is just shocked,” she added.
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Meanwhile, in Mount Helena, in the east of the city, 16-year-old Georgia Rizzi and her friend were struck on their school tennis court.
Rizzi told ABC that she and her friends noticed thunder and lightning while walking out to their school's sports courts, and subsequently, there was “a loud bang." Rizzi said the lightning struck a basketball hoop before hurting her and her friend.
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"I remember feeling pain on my head, and my spine vibrate," she said. "I started crying because I felt [numb] in my feet." Rizzi also noted that “everyone’s hair started sticking up.”
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Rizzi and her friend, who were struggling to stand, were subsequently transferred to the hospital by ambulance, where tests, including heart rate monitoring, were carried out before they were sent home and told to monitor their symptoms.
A spokeswoman for the WA Department of Education said, per ABC, "The department is aware of two school students in the Perth Hills who reported being struck by lightning and feeling unwell this morning. School staff responded quickly, and as a precaution, the students were taken to the hospital by St John ambulance for further assessment."
St John WA manager Deane Coxall said it was “incredibly rare” for three people to be injured by lightning strikes in one day, ABC reported.
"I've been in this job almost 15 years, and I have never heard of that happening, especially here in Western Australia," Mr Coxall said.
"It is an incredibly unfortunate and unlikely event; I would be very surprised if we ever saw it again,” he added.
PEOPLE has reached out to St John WA Ambulance service and the WA Department of Education, but did not immediately receive responses.