{"id":337405,"date":"2026-09-03T23:04:49","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T23:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/337405\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T23:04:49","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T23:04:49","slug":"watch-congressional-staffer-struck-by-lightning-walks-away-without-serious-injuries-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/337405\/","title":{"rendered":"WATCH: Congressional staffer struck by lightning walks away without serious injuries"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (TNND) \u2014 A New York man walked away without serious injuries after he was struck by lightning outside a Staten Island home on Aug. 27 \u2014 a terrifying moment captured on camera.<\/p>\n

Thomas Fahmy, a congressional staffer for Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, told “Good Morning America”<\/a> he was walking to his car for a dentist appointment when the strike sent him crashing to the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cI quickly came to the realization I was struck by lightning,\u201d he recalled. \u201cAnd I began to scream \u2018Help! Help!\u2019 at the top of my lungs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doorbell footage shows Fahmy walking toward his vehicle when a bright flash and a loud pop send him collapsing to the ground.<\/p>\n

Fahmy told WNBC<\/a> he felt a \u201cvery intense burning sensation\u201d followed by tingling, numbness and severe pain in both feet.<\/p>\n

A neighbor heard Fahmy screaming for help as he made his way toward her home. He was taken to Staten Island University Hospital, where doctors found no visible burns or major injuries. He was released the following day.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo burns,\u201d Fahmy told WABC<\/a>. \u201cI had multiple body exams, no burns at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Malliotakis said she was grateful Fahmy, a member of her congressional staff, was \u201calive and well\u201d and thanked the Good Samaritan who came to his aid and the hospital staff who treated him.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Man struck by lightning and walks away Aug. 27, 2026 (Stefanie Homan via CNN Newsource) <\/p>\n

Lightning strikes the ground about 37 million times each year in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>. The chances of being struck in any given year are less than one in a million, though nearly 90% of people who are struck survive.<\/p>\n

Fahmy said the experience gave him a new outlook on life: \u201cJust to appreciate life, smile and breathe fresh air once in a while and don\u2019t let life overwhelm you.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that he also decided to try his luck and bought a Mega Millions lottery ticket. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (TNND) \u2014 A New York man walked away without serious injuries after he was struck…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":337406,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-337405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=337405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/337406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=337405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=337405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=337405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}