Traumatic Experience of A Golfer Hit By Thunderbolt

It has been more than five years since that fateful afternoon on 21st April, 2001, when a friend of mine was killed by thunderbolt while playing golf with me and two other persons at the Palm Resort Golf and Country Club in Johore, Malaysia. I am lucky to be still alive to tell this tragic story…

We started off the game from the 10th tee box at around 1.10 pm. The weather was cloudy. As we were walking towards the directions of our balls to play our second shots at the 11th hole while chatting away, there was a sudden lightning flashed at a distance high up in the cloudy sky. She reacted with fear and told me that she was very scared. I replied telling her that we should take shelter after completing the hole. Then a few rain drops started falling on us. I told her to hold on while I walked back towards the caddy for my umbrella, but she subconsciously continued to walk towards the direction of her ball.

When I was about to open my umbrella, thunderbolt struck. I felt as if a packet of fire crackers exploded in my palm; my umbrella was pulled away from my hand to a distance of about three metres; my right arm went numb; and I was blacked out momentarily.

When I regained my composure, I saw her falling forward to the ground with her right hand still holding her club; and I instinctively rushed towards her. To my horror, I saw her eyes remained wide open; and she did not respond to my call. One of our flight mates prevented me from touching her body as a safety precaution.

I was about five metres away from her when the tragedy struck. The thunderbolt ripped the turf apart with a thickness of about four cm., leaving a crack covering a distance of about two metres. She had burns on the lower part of her body and her legs. She was pronounced dead upon arrival at the Kulai Hospital in Johore, Malaysia.

Every since this bout of traumatic experience, I have got a phobia of lightning. Whenever it starts to drizzle during a round of golf, I would start feeling paranoid that lightning would follow; and I would try to convince my flight mates to stop the game. I wonder when I shall overcome my phobia of lightning!