Video Captures Terrifying Moment US Biologist Was Almost Struck By Lightning

A video has captured the terrifying moment a wildlife expert and biologist almost got struck by lightning while he was recording a video in Everglades City, Florida. The incident happened last week when 35-year-old Forrest Galante was filming a promotional video for his YouTube channel in South Florida, Fox News reported. 

"We're getting some great shots. Beautiful day. The water's clear. Things are going great. Towards the end of the day, we come up on the last thing we need to do, and the rain starts to roll in...It's Florida. It rains here. There's lightning and thunder all the time,'' he said in the video while standing in thigh-high water in Everglades.

Just a few seconds later, lightning strikes right next to him, prompting him to duck and scramble out of the water. He is heard saying, ''I got hit. I felt it. Yeah, I got hit. That hurt.''

Watch the video here:

How close have you come to being hit by lightning?

This is insane. The host of Discovery Plus and Animal Planet, @ForrestGalante, was actually hit by lightning while recording.

In the video, you can see he was discussing the importance of having a GPS device, when a huge bolt… pic.twitter.com/lseyEzgNUZ

— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) October 2, 2023

After the incident, he recounted he couldn't see the lighting since he was facing the camera but remembers getting paralyzed shortly after the sudden strike.

"Out of nowhere, crazy thunder hits and this massive flash. And I don't see anything because I'm facing the camera. But I just feel my legs seize up and my butt. I'm like, literally paralyzed. For just a fraction of a second before trying to scramble up the bank and out of the water,'' he said. 

"Through that superconductive water, [the lightning] has just gone shooting up my legs into my chest, into my heart, and into my mouth, actually. The whole thing is pretty crazy,'' he added. 

Mr Galante said he and his team weren't seriously injured from the ordeal. However, he claimed he felt sore and now has a lingering taste of mental in his mouth.

"I'm not a person who gets rattled by a narrow experience, but sort of coming down from it now, the whole thing is pretty crazy. Like, it's crazy to think how close we were to a lightning strike. It's crazy the reaction I'm having with regards to the soreness in my legs and butt and this metallic taste in my mouth,'' he further said. 

They didn't seek medical help and any symptoms they suffered have started to subside.