Worker struck by lightning while loading plane at Little Rock airport; 'thankful to be alive,' he says

A 52-year-old Arkansas man was recovering at home Wednesday after a bolt of lightning “came out of the blue” and struck him hours earlier as he was loading an airplane at the Clinton National Airport in Little Rock.

Darin Campbell, a 35-year veteran worker for UPS, said he remembers stepping off the 757 jet and seeing a blinding flash and hearing “instant thunder.” It knocked him unconscious for several minutes just before midnight Tuesday.

“It felt like getting hit in the head by a ball bat,” Campbell said. “Apparently, I had God with me.”

When he regained consciousness, Campbell was able to walk down a set of 20 stairs and into an ambulance that was waiting to bring him to a nearby hospital, he said.

Speaking by phone from his Alexander home Wednesday morning, Campbell said that he was feeling fine aside from a headache and general soreness after the the bolt came “out of the blue” not 12 hours earlier and “grabbed him.”

The strike left a baseball-sized char mark on the top of his head, indicating that the bolt likely hit him there.

Medical staff at the Baptist Medical Center in Little Rock cleared him for release after scanning his heart and head for possible issues.

His son gave him a ride back to the airport to pick up his truck and drove them home, even though Campbell said he probably could have driven himself home around 4 a.m. The plane he was loading had taken off.

According to The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an average of 33 people die from lightning each year.

The rarity of such strikes on people is well-documented.

A 2016 study published for the International Conference on Lightning Protection’s annual conference found the United States had among the lowest rates of fatal lightning strikes in the world at .1 per one million people.

Researchers also found nine out of 10 people survived after being hit by lightning in the U.S.

The National Weather Service in North Little Rock logged two deaths from lightning across Arkansas last year, but it recorded no others in the prior two years. Some 80 people were injured by lightning since 1996.

“If you hear thunder, you’re close enough to get hit by lightning, so get inside,” said Brian Smith, a senior forecaster at the weather service.

Throughout the day Wednesday, friends and family of Campbell were calling to check on him and joke about buying lottery tickets.

Campbell said his next steps are to buy a shirt with lightning bolt before returning to work when he feels better. But for now, he said he’s taking a few days off.

“I’m just thankful to be alive,” he said.

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