A MUM said she felt "incredibly lucky" after being struck by lightning outside her home and escaping unscathed – thanks to her wellies!
Stunned Deb Kendall was hit by the bolt as she put her two-year-old daughter in her car during a thunderstorm near her home in Smalley.
But, despite being zapped, the 33-year-old was later discharged from hospital with a clean bill of health.
And doctors who treated her said it may have been because she was wearing her husband's rubber-soled wellington boots at the time.
Deb said it happened at the same time as lightning struck over Heanor, on Tuesday just after 9am, causing one home to burst into flames.
She said she slipped on the boots before stepping outside with an umbrella to shelter husband David, 36, as he carried their daughter to their car.
She said: "We needed to get going and it was absolutely pouring with rain.
"I only had little pumps on, so David said I should put his wellies on. We put my daughter in the car and I was still holding the umbrella in the air when there was suddenly this white sheet of light.
"I heard a bang and felt it in my hand, then almost instantaneously a bang in my feet. There was a noise like when you stand next to a pylon. The electricity came down the umbrella, through me and out again.
"I think I was in shock – I said to David: 'I think I've been struck by lightning.'
"My whole body went heavy but I managed to run into the house. It was like I had cramp. Pins and needles set in and I called the 111 emergency helpline."
Deb said she was told to go straight to the Royal Derby Hospital, where she underwent tests, including an ECG scan, within an hour of arrival.
She said: "I was so relieved to get the all-clear. The doctors said the fact I was wearing David's wellies may have insulated me and stopped the lightning from earthing.
'I dread to think what might have happened if I wasn't wearing them. It could easily have gone the other way.
"My muscles still really ache but other than that I feel strangely okay. It still hasn't really sunk in."
Deb – who runs fabulousplaces.co.uk, an online guide to Derbyshire – said her mother had always told her not to go out into a thunderstorm with an umbrella.
But she said: "I never in a million years thought this would happen but it's just sinking in now – and I feel incredibly lucky."
Her husband, web developer David, said: "The wellies cost about £8.50. I was going to get rid of them because they were leaking, but I'm glad I didn't now.
"I had just strapped our daughter in when suddenly there was there was a blinding white light above us and the biggest bang. It was deafening.
"I said: 'Woah' and looked at Deborah as if to say: 'Did you see that?'
"She just had a look of astonishment on her face and said: 'It hit us!' and then she said: 'You guys can get wet. I'm going in' and ran off. It was incredibly strange.
"I'm just so glad it has all turned out okay. We feel incredibly fortunate."
Dr David Laithwaite, consultant at the Royal Derby Hospital's accident and emergency department, said: "Deborah was very lucky.
"She was given an ECG and examined. All tests came back normal and we wished her well."
