Delaware County Teen Struck By Lightning Shares His Story
By Jan Carabeo
GLENOLDEN, Pa., (CBS) -- Suffering just a cut to his hand, a 14-year-old boy from Prospect Park considers himself lucky to be alive Tuesday after doctors say he was struck by lightning (see previous story).
"Shocking," David Bodkin said. "I was shaking, and I didn't know what was happening."
Bodkin was visiting his mother at her house on Ashland Avenue around 8 p.m. Monday when severe storms hit. Nearly 10,000 lightning strikes were recorded throughout the Delaware Valley that night.
"The flashes were real intense," neighbor Mike Kostyk said.
Still, Bodkin was trying to get home to his aunt's house. His friend parked across the street to give him a ride. As the teenager got into the car, lightning struck.
"Only thing I heard was you were hit by lightning and you're bleeding everywhere," Bodkin said.
"I suggested maybe it hit the ground and something flew up and hit him," his adopted mother Jayne Von Bergen said recalling her conversation with the teen's doctor. "They said no, he was struck."
And doctors go on to say it was likely his shoes and their thick, rubber soles that saved him. Bodkin's friend gave the shoes to him just before the storm.
"He just needed a pair of shoes, so I gave him a pair of shoes," Sean King said.
Friends and family are amazed that the teenager is back home already with no major injuries. He has a small cut on his left hand and some tingling in his arm.
"I thought he was going to die at first, honestly," his brother Dan Bodkin said.
"I'm just happy to be alive," added Bodkin.
It's a tale this teen will live to tell as he starts the next chapter of life -- high school.
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