Minnesota teen struck by lightning while sitting in bed

(KMSP) - An Oak Grove, Minnesota teen is counting his blessings after surviving a lightning strike early Saturday morning.

Corey Wilmer was laying in his bed at his family’s cabin in Brainerd around 1:45 a.m. when he says a lightning bolt crashed through the ceiling. The jolt went through the wiring, sparking a small fire at the electrical outlet by his bed and knocking out power in his neighborhood.

“When the lightning was passing through me it was just a complete burning sensation,” said the 15-year-old. “It hit my shoulder, went through and down my back.”

The teen doesn’t believe he was hit directly, but the hole in the ceiling and broken window next to his bed show just how close he came. Scars on his back and arm show where the current burned his skin.

“Even the doctor at the hospital, she’s like, ‘I’ve been a doctor for over 20 years and I’ve never seen this,’” said Wilmer’s step-dad Edwin Griego.

According to the National Weather Service, lightning kills an average of 47 people every year in the United States. Hundreds more are injured. 

“I was just sitting in bed trying to convince myself to fall asleep and it just came through and struck,” recalls Wilmer. “If I would have been hit by more of it, it probably would have done more damage.”

Wilmer was examined by doctors Saturday. After several heart tests, he was released from the hospital with a clean bill of health.