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Lightning struck George Judd while kayaking on the Rappahannock River. It was his first kayaking lesson. MIKE MORONES/THE FREE LANCE-STAR Visit the Photo Place

Lightning struck; he lived

Stafford man survives lightning strike on the Rappahannock

Date published: 8/1/2009

BY JONAS BEALS

After being struck by lightning, Stafford resident George Judd, 45, exhaled a cloud of smoke.

Then he turned to his kayaking partner, Dave Honaker.

"I'm fried inside," Judd told him.

"It was funny," Judd said of his short-lived moment of panic. "After that, I was extremely calm. I took stock of how I was."

He could still talk, but the bolt had knocked him into the Rappahannock River and temporarily paralyzed his right arm and both legs. Judd remained conscious throughout the entire episode.

"I saw a white streak that looked to be about a foot wide. I felt the surge going on. I saw my buddy through this sort of foggy lens," he said.

The strike vaporized his shorts, leaving nothing but the melted waistband.

SHOT THROUGH THE HIP

At approximately 7 p.m. July 1, lightning entered Judd's body via his right hip, leaving two holes in his flesh. Blisters on his feet and right hand suggest the electricity left through those extremities.

At the time, he was on the banks of the Rappahannock, trying to climb out of knee-deep mud to find shelter from worsening weather. One hand was on the bank, the other was holding onto his 15-foot sea kayak.

"We really did everything right," Judd said. "We checked the weather. We stayed close to the bank. When the weather got bad, we decided to go for cover and get out of the boats."

It was Judd's first time in a kayak--Honaker was teaching him how to paddle. Both men wore personal flotation devices and kept an eye on each other.

"I'm a big backpacker and I usually go solo," Judd said. "It's taught me a lesson. I never really considered lightning as a possibility. It really opened my eyes."

He may also reconsider his solo ways, considering the benefits of the buddy system.

Honaker was able to drag Judd up the bank by his life jacket. With Judd's permission, Honaker left the river to call for help on his cell phone and try to flag down a car on River Road.

There were 10 lightning fatalities in Virginia from 1999--2008, the 17th state for such incidents. Florida is No. 1. Virginia has had .14 lightning fatalities per 1 million people from 1999-2008. There were 306,766 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes in Virginia in 2008. Florida averages 1,447,914 per year. Virginia has had one lightning fatality in 2009. Florida has had 4. July is traditionally the peak month for lightning injuries and fatalities in Virginia. --National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

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Date published: 8/1/2009

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