Galashiels woman warns others to be careful after her phone was hit by lightning

Tracey Kutluol was filming last Thursday’s storm from her living room window when her iPhone was zapped by the thunderbolt.

The dramatic footage shows the mum-of-two joking “I’m going to get electrocuted” as she opened her window to get a better look at the storm.

The video shows dark clouds and thunder can be heard before a flash of lightning strikes the phone.

Tracey, who was with her children Max, 10, and Mia, 14, while filming the video, said her life flashed before her eyes.

The 43-year-old claims an electric shock ran up her left arm, leaving her with extreme pins and needles.

She said it was her new rubber phone cover - delivered just hours before she was struck - that saved her life.

Tracey, a stay at home mum, said: “I was trying to film how dark it was and hoping for a little lightning that I could capture but I did not anticipate that it would hit me.

“The lightning hit the pop socket on my phone.

“And if I am being honest, that saved my life otherwise my phone would have probably exploded.

“I was not hurt and all the kids and my friend who were with me were all fine. My kitchen light bulb managed to blow up though.

“You have no idea how powerful lightning is, I could still feel pins and needles from my left hand starting from my pinky all the way up to my elbow.

“When it hit, it was like a big blue light.

“That was when I realised that my life flashed before me. I just threw my phone and we all started to panic and scream.”

Terrified the house might catch on fire, Tracey and her kids ran to hide in her bedroom on the ground floor of the townhouse, where she thought it would be safest.

She said: “My son tried to make sure the cat wouldn’t jump out of the window. My daughter thought the place was going to go on fire.

“As a mother, my job was to try and comfort my kids and keep them calm. We pulled all the plugs off the sockets and run to my room.

“Then on the third floor, it’s my son’s room, bathroom, and our living room. So my room is on the lower ground so I felt we would be much safer there.

“We stayed there until 11.30pm.”

Tracey says the frightening incident is one she will “never forget” but said she is thankful to the eBay seller who she purchased the phone case from.

She said: “I message him the next day telling him I was so thankful for that case as it actually saved my life.

“At first, my children thought my case looked funny but I bet they are happy with it now. I think I will probably buy the pink version of that phone cover from him.”

Tracey says she wants to raise awareness for anyone else who plans to film lightning.

Since the incident, she has posted a video which has had over 200,000 views.