Schoolgirl tells of lightning strike ordeal

A 15-year-old girl today said she was lucky to be alive after lightning hit the roof of her home and conducted through the metal head board of her bed.

Sophie Wiltshire was asleep when lightning hit the family's five-bedroom property in Elberton, near Thornbury, in South Gloucestershire



The lightning bolt conducted through the roof and then hit the metal headboard, just inches from where Sophie was lying. But fortunately she was not touching the metal surface, and escaped potentially life threatening injuries.

The ceiling collapsed in her bedroom and was today covered in plaster, dust and other debris. One wall was left scorched black behind the headboard, showing just how close she had come to being seriously injured in the freak accident. Her 14-year-old sister Gina was also lucky to escape unharmed after her bedroom ceiling also caved in.