VIDEO: Lightning bolt strikes inches away from S.C. school guidance counselor

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WMBF) – A Horry County guidance counselor had quite the scare when a bolt of lightning struck near inches from him as he was walking to his car.

Romulus McNeill was getting ready to leave the Academy for Technology and Academics Thursday night after an open house. Storms were rolling through the area at the time he was trying to get to his car.

“I took a chance and I said, ‘I hope I don’t get struck by lightning,” McNeill said.

It almost happened.

School surveillance footage shows McNeill walking to his car when the lightning bolt strikes right next to the sidewalk he was walking on.

A startled McNeill drops his umbrella before quickly picking it up and running to the parking lot.

“I felt a shock,” McNeill said Friday. “It was just kind of insane for it to happen like that. I was just trying to get home and get something to eat.”

Fortunately, McNeill said that beyond the shock and the fright, he was OK. He shared the security footage to his Facebook page Friday afternoon. By 4:30 p.m., it had been viewed over 4,500 times.

Cameras caught my crazy experience with lightning. Supa thankful to have been able to motor scoot out of there without major injures
Posted by Romulus McNeill on Friday, August 16, 2019