“I am lucky to be alive.”

Those are the words of a Southampton man who had an escape after he was one of three men who were struck by lightning.

Kyle Taylor was on a lorry which he was loading at a Churchill Retirement Living construction site in Camberley when he was struck by the bolt which hit the lorry, at 1pm yesterday afternoon.

He was thrown 12ft away from the lorry, and despite losing consciousness and treated at Frimley Park Hospital for burns to his chest, he discharged himself hours later to be at home with his family.

The 26-year-old scaffolder, who lives in Portsmouth Road, Woolston, said that before it happened he noticed the weather take a turn for the worse and he rang his boss to say after loading the lorry he will be going home.

The former Woolston Boys School pupil and Itchen College student, said: “As I was loading the lorry with scaffolding tubes I heard thunder, then the next thing I know I saw this massive blue flash.

Daily Echo:

“When I woke up and hour my body was stuck to the floor and I could not move. I was numb all over and I had pins and needles all over.

“In my head I thought I was able to talk and say things, but I could not speak. Everyone thought I was dead I went into shock and got worried because I could not move.

“What's happened is absolutely mental, I still can't get my head round it now. I never like to think what the chances were of surviving that, or how many volts were in the lightning. I am just so happy to still be here.”

Kyle and his two colleagues were all described as 'walking wounded' by South Central Ambulance Service.

The trio of lucky survivors are planning on getting a tattoo as a memento of the incident.