"It was like a grenade going off," lightning-strike survivor Caleb Harris says after his ute was hit by a thunderbolt on the West Coast.
The direct hit set fire to the vehicle, which was quickly engulfed in flames, after the 20-year-old Hokitika driver jumped clear at Awatuna yesterday.
MetService recorded about 1600 lightning strikes across the South Island yesterday - one of which met Harris's Ford Ranger.
He was driving north on State Highway 6 near Awatuna, between Hokitika and Greymouth, about 3.30pm and saw a dark storm ahead.
"I drove into it and the rain got very heavy - and then bang! Straight on my bonnet!
"My ears were ringing and I couldn't see because of the rain, and then all the smoke in the cab.
"There were heaps of flashing bulbs on the dash and I knew my truck was gonna be offline pretty quick but I managed to pull over, pop the bonnet, switch on the hazard lights and jump out.
"The electrics had locked my door so I had to smash a window. I had all my gear in the back so I had to grab that out. Then I called the fire brigade.
"When I got out adrenaline was there for a while, and heart rate through the roof. I spent the night in hospital hooked up to a heart monitor.
"Every doctor, policemen and firemen have all said I'm so lucky. I might go buy a lotto ticket - everyone has told me to."
His parents Fran and Robert Harris were understandably concerned, he said.
"At first they were was a bit upset and stuff but they're all right now, knowing I'm okay."
Mr Harris had only had the ute for a couple of months and was heading from his home in Hokitika to Golden Bay, where he works as a tractor driver.
"The truck was a dark grey colour, now it's pretty black, all burnt out, windows smashed.
"I'll probably get another 4WD of some sort. Remember people - drive safe in storms," he said.
Today he was busy fielding calls from media around the country as images of his burning ute have gone viral.
Hokitika Volunteer Fire Brigade station officer Chris Rea said: "It's the first time I've seen or heard of this happening, but it didn't take long to get under control."
Lightning expert Prof Craig Rodger from the department of physics at the University of Otago said despite yesterday's incident, cars were still a relatively safe place to be in a lightning storm.
"If you have the really unfortunate experiences of being struck by lightning, one of the safest places is in a car.
"It is a 'Faraday Cage' - basically, you're sitting in a big metal box which protects you from the lightning.
"He would have had a hell of a shock but the currents would have flowed around him, not into him," Prof Rodger said.
"On the Coast you get good lightning storms because they get driven up the side of the mountains. There are multiple reasons the Coast is special - and lightning is one of them."
- By Meg Fulford
