pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/state/040722lightning.shtml
ADVERTISEMENT Blethen Maine News Service by Blethen Maine News Service John Corson MADISON -- A Madison man who has undergone three cardiac surgeries said he was feeling "lighter and 100 years younger" after he survived a lightning strike this week. "They started calling me names like 'High Voltage' and 'Sparky' in the restaurant," 56-year-old John Corson said Wednesday, a day after surviving the strike outside his home on Route 148. It's the best I've probably felt as far as energy in 10 years." Corson was taken to Redington-Fairview General Hospital following the incident, which occurred shortly before 1 pm Corson said doctors tested his blood for possible effects to his heart condition, and released him in about eight hours. Corson and his wife, Sylvia, had gone into the house after the thunder storm began. "I told her I ought to go in the house because with my luck I'd be struck right here by lightning." After the storm waned - or so Corson thought - he went back outside to measure some wood for a renovation project. It was like chest pain, with someone's hand on my chest." Somerset County Sheriff Barry A DeLong said he was driving near that area when the storm hit. I had to pull my car over, the storm was so strong," DeLong said. The bolt went from his body to three circuit breakers in the garage, and tripped all three, he said. The lightning left redness around his shoulders, Corson said. Corson said he thought most people who are hit by lightning die. Actually, according to the National Weather Service, most lightning-strike victims survive. However, they often report a variety of long-term debilitating symptoms. An average of 67 people in the United States are killed each year by lightning. He thanked both AMS Ambulance and the staff at Redington-Fairview for their assistance. A Skowhegan native, Corson worked in the logging business, but is now disabled.
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