Sharon Stone, 62, 'thrown across kitchen' after lightning strike

Sharon Stone has claimed she was thrown across her kitchen by the force of a lightning strike.

The Basic Instinct actor, 62, said she was filling her iron with water when she was allegedly suddenly hit by the bolt.

Stone claims she only came around after being slapped by her mother.

“I was hit by lightning,” Stone said on the Films To be Buried With podcast. “Wow, it's really intense.”

Stone explained she was taking water from a well in her home when the incident happened.

“I was filling the iron with water and I had one hand on the faucet and the well got hit by lightning and the lighting came up through the water,” she said.

“I got picked up and thrown across the kitchen and I hit the refrigerator.

“I was like, ‘Woah’; and my mother was standing there, and my mother just belted me across the face and brought me to.

“I was in such an altered state, just so, I don't know how to describe it, so bright, like wow, and she threw me in the car and drove me to hospital and the ECG [electrocardiogram] was showing just such electricity in my body.

“It was so crazy.”

The risks of being struck by lightning

Less than one in a million people are struck by lightning in the US in any given year.

Florida is considered the “lightning capital”, with more than 2,000 related injuries over the past 50 years.

Although rare, lightning is one of the leading causes of weather-related deaths. Between 2006 and 2018, it caused around 30 fatalities a year in the US.

Many deaths are due to cardiac arrest, when the heart stops beating.

While not always fatal, people can suffer serious long-term effects, such as severe burns and permanent brain damage that leads to memory loss or even a change in personality.

How to stay safe in lightning

Those most at risk are people who work outside or take part in outdoor activities, like golf or fishing.

People can reduce their risk by “staying indoors when thunder roars”.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents recommends the 30/30 rule.

If the time from the thunder to the lightning is 30 seconds or less, seek shelter. Then stay inside until 30 minutes after the last thunder clap.

If outdoors with no shelter, crouch low, with as little of your body touching the ground as possible.

Lightning causes electric currents to travel along the ground, which can be deadly at more than 30m (100ft) away.

Do not stand under a tree; one in four people struck by lightning are thought to be sheltering beneath vegetation.

Cars are a safe place to be. Lightning spreads over the metal of the vehicle before earthing to the ground via the tyres.

Being indoors does not automatically protect you from lightning, however, with around one-third of these injuries occurring inside.

People can reduce their risk by staying away from water, and avoiding electronic equipment and corded phones.

They should also steer clear of concrete floors or walls, which may house metal wires or bars that lightning can travel through.

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