'Whoa! I've been hit by lightning,' says B.C. man

A Prince George, B.C., man says he's 'totally stoked' to be alive after being struck by lightning earlier this week.

Nels Hansen was sitting in the bleachers at a local baseball field on Wednesday when a thunderstorm rolled in — and a bolt from the sky struck.

"I had this umbrella right here … next thing I know, my whole hand lights up right here, and I'm like, ‘Whoa! I’ve been hit by lightning,’" he said.

"And it's like, you know, you throw some water on a really hot frying pan. It was like zzzp — like that."

Hansen was unable to let go of the charred umbrella for 30 seconds. 

"My left arm was just like freaking tight on there, man," Hansen said.

Stunned, he dropped the umbrella.

"I realized I'm okay. And I'm like, 'Oh yeah, I got hit by lightning!' I was totally stoked."

'I'm freaking lucky'

His friends in the outfield rushed to his aid when they figured out what happened.

"Nelsy was screaming, so I figured he got it," said witness Brad Johnston. "And I seen the umbrella fly, so I went over there right away, but he was okay. He couldn't make a fist or nothing."

Hansen says a doctor checked him out, and he’s fine aside from some tingling in his arm.

"I'm freaking lucky, oh my God. People die from this stuff," he said.

"It's little things like that you never know — five minutes makes a difference, man. So life throws you all this stuff — you just gotta ride it, man. I love it. I love it."

And Hansen hopes his luck will continue.

"I actually bought the lottery ticket, actually times two, within 20 minutes. It was my first stop."