Safe to say getting struck by lightning is negative experience. With complications ranging from chronic pain to sleep disorders to death, the 1-in-3,000 individuals affected by a lightning strike during their lives should primarily be considered unlucky.
But, as commentators on Reddit pointed out, there is one very B.A. potential side-effect: Lichtenberg figures, beautiful fractal patterns that temporarily scar the skin.
In the case of the picture above, Winston Kemp was outside during a late spring storm in 2011. Lightning struck nearby, but he didn’t notice any side-effects until an hour later when the marks appeared.
According to Dangerous Minds, the elaborate details are believed to be caused by “the rupture of small capillaries under the skin due to the passage of the lightning current or the shock wave from the lightning discharge as it flashes over the skin.”
Unfortunately, the visible street cred doesn’t last long. The scars generally fade within a few days or weeks… Unless you decide to get it tattooed, as the people of Reddit suggested.
