‘Like being stabbed with 1000 needles’: Georgia Rizzi describes freak ordeal after being struck by lightning

A 16-year-old girl has told of the terrifying moment she was struck by lightning in the city’s north-east, describing the freak ordeal as like being “stabbed with 1000 needles”.

Georgia Rizzi was one of three people struck by lightning during a summer thunderstorm on Thursday morning — Perth’s first downpour since December.

The Eastern Hills Senior High School student said she was chatting with friends at school when lighting struck a nearby metal post, injuring her and her friend.

“I was just standing around the tennis court talking to my friends about the school ball, and then everyone’s hair starts sticking up,” she told 9NEWS.

“I felt like I had just been stabbed with 1000 needles.

“The teachers, the nurses, the doctors, my dad were all saying buy a lotto ticket.”

The girls were rushed to Midland Hospital and Fiona Stanley Hospital, and were discharged later that day.

Grandfather Michael Day was walking his daughter’s dog, Messi, in Hamersley about 9am when he was struck by a lightning bolt, killing Messi instantly.

The 78-year-old suffered burns on his abdomen and inner thigh and was rushed to hospital where he remains in a stable condition.

Mr Day’s daughter, Karyn Avalos, described her father’s survival as a miracle, but said she was devastated by Messi’s passing.

“Dad’s in a lot of pain, I think when it happened he was still joking about and that’s typical dad, but I think now it’s all kind of sunk in for him,” she said.

“The kids called Messi their hero, because who knows would have happened if Messi didn’t take the full brunt of the the electrical force.

“We will really miss him.”

St John WA special operations manager Deane Coxall said it was the first time he had seen three people struck by lightning in the same day in his 15-year career.

“It is an incredibly unfortunate and unlikely event, I would be very surprised if we ever saw it again,” he said.