<div itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/VideoObject"><meta itemprop="uploadDate" content="Fri Jun 17 2022 10:39:21 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)"/><meta itemprop="name" content="Watch what happens to electric fence when lightning strikes"/><meta itemprop="description" content="The instant power of lightning is on full display when it strikes an electric fence in this video."/><meta itemprop="duration" content="P0Y0M0DT0H0M32S" /><meta itemprop="thumbnailUrl" content="https://content.jwplatform.com/thumbs/szyjH2AL-1920.jpg"/><meta itemprop="contentUrl" content="https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/szyjH2AL-JXpetW4I.mp4"/><script src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/players/szyjH2AL-pF5qn7BW.js"></script></div>

Mark Gruchy of St. John's says he's never been one to play the lottery.

But after the experience he and his family went through on a camping trip in Nova Scotia this week, he might want to think about it.

Gruchy was camping in the backcountry of Kejimkujik National Park with his wife, Leah, and their daughter, Charlotte. They set up about three kilometres from the end of Kejimkujik Lake.

__MUST READ: [Road trip essentials for you and your car](https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/news/article/shop-the-weather-road-trip-must-haves)__

A special weather statement issued by Environment Canada called for passing thunderstorms on the first day of their trip, he said, but it was nothing they weren't prepared for.

That was until about 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, when the rain picked up dramatically and lightning started flashing in line with their tent just a few kilometres away.

"The whole event unfolded over the space of less than 10 minutes, and it went from no rain to … a torrential downpour," Gruchy said Friday. "That caused me a fair bit of worry. But nonetheless, you don't ever really think anything will happen."

![mark-gruchy-and-family/Submitted by Mark Gruchy via CBC](//images.ctfassets.net/c55i45ef3o2a/3CZwhQ9L26ubb2zPSNX7Rc/8412aac63bd119e92f423067243e7133/tree-struck-by-lightning.jpeg)
*Mark Gruchy and his family were a few dozen feet away from this tree when it was struck by lightning on Thursday. (Submitted by Mark Gruchy)*

The family retreated to their tent and did their best to keep their limbs off the forest floor. He said the lightning passed right over them — so close that the thunder and lightning caused a physical reaction.

"The thunder was actually painful. It was that loud. It was actually hurting our ears. And I felt a very sharp pain in my right foot, specifically my right foot.… All I remember saying is that I felt that, I said it out loud," Gruchy said.

"Leah, she had her hand up to her chest and she looked like she was in discomfort. The next thing that I recall, and we both have different interpretations of this, but to me it was like the rain had stopped. There was no sound any more coming from the rain. I thought I could hear other things, including my own voice when I spoke out."

![mark-gruchy-and-family/Submitted by Mark Gruchy via CBC](//images.ctfassets.net/c55i45ef3o2a/3bBf3gvDtu9N1hD9WUKwE7/039adcd57f9a8081b064cf8abef12e81/mark-gruchy-and-family.webp)
*Mark Gruchy and his family were caught in a large thunder and lightning storm during a camping trip in Nova Scotia on Thursday. (Submitted by Mark Gruchy)*

Once things settled down, the couple concluded lightning had struck so close to their tent that they had felt it — but not enough to cause serious injuries.

Gruchy said he was left with a strange feeling in his foot for a couple of hours, which he says might have been on the ground when the lightning struck.

Their suspicions about the lightning were confirmed when they left their tent and spotted the largest tree in the area, about 30 feet from them.

"This tree, which had been perfectly fine before the storm blew over, had been split in a corkscrew pattern from the top. There was like a spiral coming around it. When I first looked at it, it just looked like an almost classic zigzag, jagged slash about halfway down the tree," Gruchy said.

### __WATCH: Nearly 35,000 lightning bolts struck this part of Canada__

<div itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/VideoObject"><meta itemprop="uploadDate" content="Tue Aug 16 2022 21:22:43 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)"/><meta itemprop="name" content="Nearly 35,000 lightning bolts struck this part of Canada"/><meta itemprop="description" content="In four short days, this part of Canada saw over 34,000 lightning strikes. Meteorologist Rachel Modestino explains how such an event could be possible."/><meta itemprop="duration" content="P0Y0M0DT0H1M32S" /><meta itemprop="thumbnailUrl" content="https://content.jwplatform.com/thumbs/lkKUIVnW-1920.jpg"/><meta itemprop="contentUrl" content="https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/lkKUIVnW-JXpetW4I.mp4"/><script src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/players/lkKUIVnW-WnAZH7xE.js"></script></div>

"I don't know what would have happened if we'd been outside the tent or if we'd been closer to the tree, or if we'd been sitting at the picnic table, which had metal legs.… It's a wild, strange, unique, surreal thing to contemplate."

He says the family is doing well after the incident, and now have quite the story to share — and now know to be more conscious of where the largest tree on their campsite is on their next trip.

*The story was originally published for [CBC News](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/mark-gruchy-lightning-strike-1.6556511) on Aug. 19, 2022. It contains files from On The Go.*

Lightning struck this St. John's family's campsite while caught in the middle

CBC News

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'The thunder was actually painful. It was that loud,' says Mark Gruchy


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