21/12/2022 By acomputer 633 Views

Struck by lightning, she becomes electrosensitive

A Sherbrooke resident who was struck by lightning in 2007 now experiences intense pain whenever she is near a cell phone or an electricity pylon.

Most people who have survived lightning report having some after-effects. Partial deafness, loss of balance, migraines, breathing difficulties, the list is long.

For some victims, like Diane Pelletier, 62, the consequences are more serious. At home, no cordless phone, no wi-fi, no cooking in the oven, because she no longer cooks.

Before entering her home, you must leave your cell phone outside.

Almost 10 years after a lightning bolt passed through her body, the energetic former restaurant manager with a sharp memory is a diminished woman.

Having become intolerant to electromagnetic fields, the woman saw her life change dramatically on June 22, 2007, when lightning fell on the building where she worked as an attendant in a call center.

"I felt the lightning in the helmet enter my ear, go along my body on the left side and come out through my big toe", says the one who has accumulated the diagnoses and who is treated today with morphine when the pain is too intense.

“I take 22 pills a day,” she says, showing her list of her medications.

Special collaboration photo, Gilles Brien

Unrecognized disease

For Dr. Guy Riendeau, emergency physician at the CHUM and medical consultant for Hydro-Québec, Diane Pelletier's symptoms are typical of the syndromes of victims of electrocution. "All the medical community can do for people who claim to be electrosensitive is to treat their pain."

After fighting against the CSST to have electrosensitivity recognized as a handicap, Diane Pelletier ended up giving up.

Struck by lightning, she becomes electrosensitive

To protect themselves, electrosensitive people go so far as to wear an aluminum blanket, like the one Diane never takes off in the car when the car passes under the pylons. “When there are thunderstorms, I stay in the cellar for whole days. It hurts me, it's not possible."

Diane Pelletier is not the only one in this state. A Quebec association of electrosensitive people was recently created, the Rassemblement ÉlectroSensibilité Québec (RESQ).

While waiting for research to perhaps tomorrow reveal things that we do not know today, Diane is sorry for the lack of understanding of people, especially those close to her.

“My mother died thinking I was making it up,” she says sadly. Rare, imaginary or psychosomatic disease, one thing is certain, his suffering is very real.

Shocking numbers on lightning

An overview of lightning strikes in Canada and the United States in a vast study covering 35 years of statistics confirms many beliefs and upsets others. this subject.

1 in 960,000 risk

Probability of being killed by lightning

35-45 years old

The average age of the victim and his sex, a man 4 times out of 5

Saturday, Wednesday, Sunday

The most risky days of the week

Proportion of victims under a tree in golf

Proportion of victims on the phone

Proportion of victims in their bath

Between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.

The riskiest time of day

July

The month with the most lightning in Quebec

2,263,800

Number of lightning strikes in Canada per year

Lightning kills less than before

Each year, lightning kills 25,000 people worldwide. In Quebec, there are one to two victims per summer. Most of the time, it's a golfer or a camper.

The number of deaths was 20 times higher in the 1930s. More people were working outdoors then. About 20% of people struck down survive, but with consequences.

When a person is struck by lightning, the body is subjected to a voltage that can go up to 100 million volts. As the body is a poor conductor of electricity, the charge seeks to exit through the extremities: the feet and the head. These are usually the most seriously injured parts.

Lightning can damage your organs, burst your shoes, ignite your clothes. Beware of jewelry and piercings! They can burn you.