Teen struck by lightning at famed park as freak thunderstorm hit New York City

A 15-year-old boy was struck by lightning at Central Park in New York City as a severe thunderstorm suddenly hit the area.

The teenager was standing next to a tree that was hit by the lightning bolt and the current zapped the metal chain he was wearing, just before 3.45pm on Thursday, the New York Post reported.

He was knocked to the ground and seriously injured, and transported to New York Presbyterian / Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Police found the boy sitting against a mesh fence and conscious and he suffered neck injuries, CBS News reported.

An officer told the New York Daily News: ‘We found him sitting on the path right there. He was still conscious. He’s lucky to be alive.’

The boy was ‘alert’ and sustained minor burns, sources told the Post. He was listed in stable condition.

He was struck near Fifth Avenue and 101st Street, in the East Meadow, as a storm rolled into the city and brought flashes of heavy rain.

Initially, the incident was reported to have happened near a bathroom at the park, according to WABC.

Severe weather alerts went out to residents in the afternoon.

Lightning strikes kill roughly 20 people annually in the US and injure hundreds more, according to the National Weather Service.

The chances of being struck by lightning are less than one in a million, and more than 90% of people who are hit survive, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found.

From 2006 to 2021, 444 Americans were killed by lightning, according to the agency.

About 40million lightning strikes hit the ground in the US per year.

It happened about 10 months after two tourists visiting the Horseshoe Bend landmark in Arizona were struck by lightning. Both women were airlifted to a hospital in Utah and their injuries were not disclosed.

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