CYPRESS – A Cypress-area woman is warning others after she was struck by lightning during a recent storm in our area.
“It just literally came out of nowhere and just hit me,” said Ashlee Ennis.
The 33-year-old mother of six said her family recently moved to the area from Oregon. She said she was out recording some of the rain on Thursday, July 15, when she saw a flash.
Ennis said she was standing on her back patio with her phone, under what appears to be a metal roof, when she believes she was indirectly struck by lightning.
“It went buzz, buzz, buzz. I remember and it certainly feels like it looks,” Ennis said. “It was pretty intense.”
She went to a standalone emergency room where she said the staff noticed some irregular heart rhythms. Ennis said she also has some tingling and numbness from her arm down to her hand.
“It’s pretty much how it feels in like a cartoon,” Ennis said. “I mean, like that zapping feeling.”
Dr. Shabana Walia, an emergency room doctor with UT Health and Memorial Hermann, said lightning injuries can range from burns to conditions that are much more serious.
“Some people have no symptoms and some people, unfortunately, suffer cardiac arrest,” Walia said. “It completely depends on the mechanism in which the lightning is harming the patient.”
Ennis now has a warning for others about the storms.
“Anyone that’s new to the area or unaware how serious these can be, we just kind of want to share and it can happen in a moment,” she said.
Ennis is set to get checked at the doctor again on Thursday and now plans to watch the weather from inside the home.