A BOSCOMBE man survived a rare encounter with electricity after his home was struck by lightning - on his birthday.
Landscape gardener Craig Rudkin was halfway through celebrating his 47th birthday on Monday May 17, having been out with family members in the morning.
After returning to his home on Undercliff Road, prior to venturing out to Bournemouth town centre for a meal with friends, Craig retired to his bedroom, at around 3.30pm, when the incident happened.
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It is thought that Craig, who moved into the ground floor flat of the shared accommodation two weeks ago, was struck by an electrical surge which ran down the inside the building and earthed in his bedroom.
One of Craig’s family members called for an ambulance, which arrived within minutes.
No one else on the street is known to have been injured during the lightning strike.
The lightning strike was found to have hit to the chimney stack on the boundary between two buildings on Undercliff Road, with the power surge causing the internet of all residents on Undercliff Road to cut out.
The electrical surge also caused damage to residents’ TVs, laptops, plug sockets and water supplies.
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