SUN CITY CENTER, Fla. — A Hillsborough County grandmother is exclusively telling Scripps station WFTS in Tampa about her incredible story of survival.
"It was just shocking my whole entire insides, like my whole entire body," said JoAnne Cyr.
Cyr was draining water outside the back patio of her Sun City Center home when Tuesday's storms rolled in.
"And I just thought if I just had a couple of minutes to fix it, I was going to go into the house," said Cyr.
With a band of nasty weather above, lightning quickly fired down.
"It's like when you get a quick zap, I guess from electricity, but it's a real big one throughout your whole, entire body that you can't stop," she said.
Cyr is now walking with a cane and says her toes and fingers are still numb. She's seeing a neurologist this week.
According to the National Weather Service, lightning kills about 30 people every year in the U.S.
You have a one in 1,083,000 chance of being struck by lightning in a given year.
With those odds, Cyr, who recently beat cancer, bought three lottery tickets Tuesday after being released from the hospital.
"Maybe someone else can finish my yard work," laughed Cyr.
