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From Cal Carson Golf Agency RUBBER SHOES SAVED MY LIFE SAYS ABERDEEN WOMAN HIT BY LIGHTNING
Mrs Anne Dunnett, a grandmother and a keen playing member of Newmachar Golf Club, was taken to hospital, 40 miles away in Aberdeen, and detained for overnight observation. "Apart from an upper left arm - I was holding my brolly in my left hand when the lightning struck it - which is still sore a week after it happened, I have no physical injuries," said Anne who ventured back on to a golf course - Cruden Bay - for the first time six days later. "I agreed with my husband Jim that it's like falling off a horse. The sooner you get back in the saddle, the more quickly you will get over it. But I must admit to a wee bit of trepidation when I was getting ready for that first game since the lightning hit me. "One thing is certain. I shall never ever take an umbrella out on a golf course again. I would be simply petrified to hold it. I would rather get soaked to the skin than risk going through that experience again. I know lighting never strikes twice but I don't want to give it the chance." Mrs Dunnett who lives at Dyce, near Aberdeen Airport, had put up the umbrella to shelter from a downpour at Duff House Royal. "There was no warning to what was about to happen. You know as kids we used to count the seconds between a flash of lightning and the following thunder and be able, we thought, to know how many miles away the storm was," said Anne. "Well the crack of thunder and the flash of lightning, which I never saw, were simultaneous. The clouds must have been immediately above us. All I felt was a sudden blast of whatever it was that simply ripped the brolly right out of my hand. "I knew right away I had been hit by lightning. Don't ask me how I knew but the power must have come down the umbrella and up my left arm and it travelled through my body. In those split seconds, I honestly felt I was going to die. The searing pain, mainly in my left arm, didn't last long but it was almost unbearable while it lasted. "It was just so sudden. We had set out to play at 11am and the weather wasn't too bad. In fact, we were expecting it to turn into a nice sunny day. However, when we were coming up the second hole, the heavens opened and the rain started to come straight down., The sky had totally changed and I put my brolly up because I didn't want to get wet. We heard that the open competition had been called off because of the atrocious conditions and I was just going over to pick up my ball and make my way back to the clubhouse when the lightning struck. It must have come from behind. "I know I've been very, very lucky and I dread to think what would have happened if I had not been wearing my rubber-spiked shoes." Anne's husband Jim, who was playing golf some 30 miles away at Cruden Bay at the time, said he was shocked when the news was broken to him. "The National Health Service comes in for a lot of criticism but I have nothing but praise for the speed and attention Anne was given. A doctor attended to her in the Duff House Royal clubhouse where she was taken and he advised that she should be taken to Chalmers Hospital in Banff," said Jim Dunnett. "The staff there checked me thoroughly before transferring me to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where I was kept in overnight wired to a heart monitor," said Mrs Dunnett. "Everybody couldn't do enough for me." A spokesman for the Duff House Royal club said it was the first time in the club's history that someone had been struck by lightning on the course. |
AN
Aberdeen woman golfer struck by lightning while playing at Duff House
Royal, Banff firmly believes a decision to wear rubber-spiked shoes saved
her life. |
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