NYC Teen Survived Being Struck by Lightning in Central Park

Fifteen-year-old Yassin Khalifa was sitting under a tree in Central Park when the sky went dark and everything changed in a flash—literally.

The high school sophomore had been enjoying a picnic with friends in the park’s East Meadow Thursday afternoon when a storm rolled in. Thinking they could wait it out, Khalifa leaned against a tree near 101st Street and 5th Avenue. Moments later, lightning struck.

“I leaned up against a tree, and I told them, ‘Oh, guys, let’s ride out the storm,’ which in hindsight might not have been the best idea,” he told ABC 7 News from his hospital bed.

Khalifa was knocked unconscious for several minutes. When he came to, he was already in an ambulance headed to NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. He suffered second-degree burns on his neck and leg but remained in stable condition.

“Apparently, I’m pretty lucky, because my spine was directly against the tree and no nerve damage happened,” he said. “So I’m like, not losing any sort of motor function. So, I’m pretty happy about that.”

Struck by Lightning in Central Park, This NYC Teen Somehow Walked Away

Lucky is one way to describe it. According to the CDC, about 40 million lightning strikes hit the ground in the U.S. each year, but the odds of an individual being struck are less than one in a million. Between 2006 and 2021, only 444 Americans were hit by lightning, with a survival rate over 90 percent.

Still, the experience was jarring, to say the least. Khalifa is recovering with support from his loved ones, but the incident adds to a growing list of terrifying weather incidents in the area. A tree flattened a car in Ridgewood. In Maspeth, more trees came down on parked vehicles. Over in Cranford, New Jersey, entire lawns were peeled up by the roots, water collecting in places it couldn’t drain fast enough. 

Khalifa’s story is a reminder that nature doesn’t care about timing, and it’s more powerful than you could ever imagine. One minute, you’re killing time with your friends. Next, you’re waking up in an ambulance with burn marks and a brand-new perspective on life. 

“You don’t really think it’ll happen to you,” he said. “I mean, I was just trying to get out of the rain.”