- Craig, 19, was finally taking his dream boat on its maiden voyage and had invited his girlfriend Emma, her dad and her cousin
- Out of the blue, storm clouds gathered and lightning struck the vessel, hitting Craig directly
- The 300 million volt electrical strike put Craig in ICU and had him fighting for survival
Here Craig Morris, 19, tells his own story in his own words.
Cruising the calm waters of the lake, I turned to my girlfriend, Emma, 19, and smiled.
‘This is the life,’ I said.
No stranger to the water, I’d been boating since I was a little kid. I got my boat licence aged 16, but this was a special day.
After saving for six months, I’d bought my own vessel for $1000 – a 14ft boat I’d spent every waking hour sprucing up.
Now, Sunday, June 29, 2025, was her maiden voyage with me as the proud skipper. All afternoon, we had a ball as I towed Emma, her dad, Gary, and her cousin Wayne around on an inflatable tube attached the back.
But at 3pm, the weather took a turn.
‘Those black clouds look ominous. Maybe we should head back before the rain comes,’ I suggested.
‘Yes we can make it back in time,’ Gary agreed.
While my gut instinct was to take shelter at a nearby dock until the storm passed, I knew the lake like the back of my hand and had heaps of experience driving boats in bad weather, so decided to head back to where we’d launched.
As the propeller whirred, I pushed down on the throttle to zoom across the lake.
‘The jetty’s only five minutes away,’ I reassured my nervous passengers, as swirling clouds blackened the sky and wind whipped up the choppy lake.
As each second passed it got worse. The rain began to pelt down so hard I could barely see ahead.
Bunkering down in the cabin, Emma, Gary and Wayne took shelter.
Relying on my knowledge of the lake and the boat’s navigational system, I concentrated on keeping a steady course.
Driving blind, I lifted my right arm up to shield my eyes from the lashing rain.
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But as I propped my arm up on the windscreen for balance, everything went black…
When I came to, my mum, Amanda, then 42, stepdad, Heath, 43, and Emma blurred into view, and I realised I was in a hospital bed.
‘Hello love. You were struck by lightning,’ Mum explained. She sounded muffled.
I learned I’d been zapped by 300 million volts of electricity.
It’d hit the bow of the boat entering my body through my right elbow as it rested on the windscreen, and exiting from my right foot.
Listening to Emma and my parents retell what had happened, I was stunned.
That afternoon at home, Mum and Heath said they heard an almighty crack, then a flash of light – and that was the massive bolt that hit me.
‘You were flung back in your seat then slumped forward, wide-eyed,’ Emma croaked. ‘You had stopped breathing. I was so scared.’
Emma had desperately performed CPR until I took a faint, feeble breath.
But the strike had set the boat on fire, and Gary and Wayne had to haul my body to the back of the boat as flames were licking my feet.
‘Please put me to sleep,’ I’d pleaded.
Thankfully, another boat also caught in the storm saw us, and made a mercy dash, dragging us onboard.
Luckily one of the crew was a nurse and took over the first aid. Thankfully we made it back to the boat ramp, where soon we were met by paramedics.
In the ambulance on route to hospital, I’d had multiple seizures and was screaming in pain, my body contorted in agony.
I had no recollection of any of it, other than a vague memory of arriving at the hospital and begging for the torture to stop.
‘Please put me to sleep,’ I’d pleaded.
Meds took the pain away for a bit and I was woozy, but then pain came back ten-fold.
Mum and my stepdad had been called and rushed to the hospital.
‘We’ve kept bedside vigil since,’ Mum said.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. When the strike hit the boat, I’d absorbed the brunt of the charge.
Luckily no-one else was injured.
Although, grateful to be alive, I’d suffered nasty injuries.
In the Trauma /Burn Intensive Care Unit, I was given medication to manage the agony caused by internal injuries, with nerve and muscle damage to my arms and torso.
Treated for second degree burns, grazes to my hands and feet, I’d also perforated my right ear drum, which couldn’t hear a thing, and had a lacerated left ear canal meaning everything sounded muffled, like I was underwater.
Still, I had my faith in God – it was nothing short of a miracle that I was alive.
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‘You’ve got a long road to recovery,’ the doctor said.
Discharged after eight days, I threw myself into occupational therapy.
Thankfully my employers at the company where I’d only been working for two months as a welder, gave me the leave I needed to recover.
In September I had surgery to reconstruct my right ear drum. It was a success and I’ve since regained hearing in both ears.
‘Will you marry me?’ I asked her this October, presenting her with a ring.
In October I returned to work. The damage to my nerves and muscles is long-term, but docs are hopeful I’ll make a full recovery in time.
The ordeal has changed my view on life, and I’ll never take for granted how much my friends and family mean to me, especially Emma.
‘Will you marry me?’ I asked her this October, presenting her with a ring.
‘Yes!’ She replied, delighted.
Jokingly I say the accident put an extra special spark in our relationship, but while I’m eager to get back on the water, my fiancée is not so keen.
I don’t suppose many people live to tell the tale of how they were struck by lightning.
I’m so grateful I have the chance to make the most of every day.
For more search ‘Man vs. Lightning Miracle’ on gofundme.com
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