A 15-year-old boy was hospitalized with second-degree burns Thursday after he was struck by lightning while taking refuge from a storm under a tree in New York City’s Central Park.
The boy, Yassin Khalifa, was picnicking with friends in the eastern part of the park at around 3:45 p.m. when the storm rolled in, according to the New York Daily News.
The lightning went through the tree and into Yassin via a metal necklace he was wearing, an anonymous law enforcement source told The New York Times.
“I leaned up against a tree, and I told them, ‘Oh, guys, let’s ride out the storm,’ which in hindsight might not have been the best idea,” Yassin told WABC-TV, adding that “apparently, I’m pretty lucky, because my spine was directly against the tree and no nerve damage happened.”
Yassin, a high school sophomore, told WABC-TV that he was knocked unconscious for a few minutes and suffered second-degree burns to his neck and legs.
Nearly 90% of all lightning strike victims survive, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A New York Police Department spokesperson told Gothamist that no deaths or major damage were reported as a result of storms across the city Thursday.
