Lightning by Derek M. Elsom

Author:Derek M. Elsom
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Reaktion Books

Woman with Lichtenberg figures on her neck, abdomen and arms after lightning struck her house while she was using a corded telephone in Galway, Ireland.

On some occasions, unique evidence of the flashover effect is evident in the form of superficial pink or red fern-like branching patterns on a person’s skin. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–1799) first described this startling phenomenon in 1777 and the term Lichtenberg figure has been used to describe this pattern since 1976. It is not a burn and occurs only in people struck by lightning, although the pattern can be artificially created. The figures may occur on the torso and limbs but usually spare the face, hands and feet. It may not be visible until half an hour or even several hours after the lightning incident and it fades with time, lasting a few hours to 24 hours or even 48 hours. In exceptional cases, it may still be visible after several days. It is described as a fractal pattern, which is one of repeated bifurcations, rather like a dendritic drainage pattern seen from the air. It seems electrons from the lightning are driven into the epidermis and accumulate there until the electrical field exceeds the electrical breakdown strength of skin cells, after which the electrons radiate outward from a point to create the characteristic branching pattern. The pattern from the electron shower sometimes emanates from, or ends near, a metallic object touching the skin, such as jewellery, which may explain why some reports describe the reddening pattern as looking like a snowflake. Lichtenberg figures may occur on people who have been struck by lightning outdoors as well as those who experienced an electrical current from lightning indoors.7

Some lightning victims may experience long-term or chronic health effects that in many cases may be as serious as the acute effects. They may include one or more the following: sight deterioration, cataracts, tinnitus, partial deafness, sleep disturbance, sexual dysfunction, anxiety, depression, mood swings, irritability, attention deficit, memory deficit, dizziness, fatigue, numbness, stiff joints, paraesthesia and photophobia. Some lightning victims may be subjected to many years of psychological and emotional problems, suffering anxiety, mood swings, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. These changes are not only difficult for an individual to understand and deal with but for their family, friends and colleagues too.8 Gretel Ehrlich provided a moving account of her years of recovery from a near-fatal direct lightning strike in the USA.9 There are organizations such as the not-for-profit Lightning Strike and Electric Shock Survivors International (LSESSI), based at Jacksonville, North Carolina, which offers continuous and mutual support and education in health and well-being for survivors and their families.10

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