Crain News Service report
OTTAWA, Ontario (May 21, 2013) — An Ontario school teacher said he survived being struck by lightning during a baseball practice, according to a report on Canadian TV News.
Rodney Benton, a teacher at Seaway District School in Iroquois, Ontario, about 60 miles south of Ottawa, considers himself lucky to be alive. Mr. Benton said he believes he survived because he was holding onto the rubber grip of an aluminum baseball bat when it was struck by lightning during a school team practice.
"I saw like a peachy-orange light and fell backward on the ground. It felt like my head was going to explode and my hair was being pulled…up to the sky," he told CTV Ottawa.
Mr. Benton was treated for minor injuries at Winchester District Memorial Hospital and sent home to rest. He was still in pain late last week.
"Every step hurts. Every movement hurts. It's hard to raise my arms," he said.
This report appeared on the website of Rubber & Plastics News, an Akron-based sister publication of Tire Business.