A woman was taken to the hospital after a lightning strike in Lauderdale Lakes Monday morning.
Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue officials said the 27-year-old swim instructor was at the parking lot of the Lauderdale Lakes Swimming Pool Complex on Northwest 39th Street and was walking with an umbrella when she was jolted by a close lightning strike.
The lightning struck a nearby concrete pole with an antenna on top. The current traveled about 75 yards where it jolted the woman, officials said.
One of the woman's co-workers saw the incident and called 911. A surveillance camera at the complex captured the woman walking in the lot the moment the lightning struck.
The woman, later identified as Lauren Potts, complained of a sensation down the right side of her body, one city official said.
BSO Fire Rescue spokesman Mike Jachles tweeted the incident out shortly before 9:45 a.m., saying the woman was conscious and alert when she was taken to the hospital. She was treated and released later Monday.
"Even with indirect lightning strikes you can have injuries, the electricity, the current can disrupt the heart rhythm and your cardiovascular system," Jachles said.
