A single bolt of lightning tore through a Massachusetts neighborhood, injuring a young boy and knocking people and animals off their feet as it passed.
Ten-year-old Toimi Taavitsainen was inside his home in Gardner when lightning entered the house and struck his left foot with such force that it ripped the shoe completely off. The boy suffered severe burns and was rushed to the hospital for treatment.
The lightning’s path did not end there. His mother was knocked to the floor inside the house, the family’s collie was thrown over in the yard, and a farmhand standing in a barn doorway across the street was also knocked down as the electrical charge continued on its course.
Boy’s Foot Seared By Lightning Bolt
GARDNER, Massachusetts. — Toimi Taavitsainen, aged ten, is in a hospital with a badly burned left foot, as a result of being struck by a bolt of lightning.
The bolt entered the house and struck the boy’s foot, tearing off the shoe.
His mother was knocked down, and the boy’s pet collie, in the yard, was topped over.
A farmhand in the doorway of a barn across the street was knocked over as the bolt sped on its way.
Source: The Washington Times. Washington, D.C. July 1, 1925.
