iPod-equipped teen struck by lightning

Sporting an iPod isn't always the care-free, non-stop dance party that Apple's marketing department would like us to believe. We already knew that the devices could cause accelerated hearing loss, get you mugged on the subway, and take away your free will, and now it seems that the popular DAP may also make you an attractive target for the cruel wrath of Mother Nature. Seventeen-year-old Jason Bunch of Colorado was enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon mowing the lawn this past weekend, when all of a sudden he woke up in bed with burns all over his face, vomiting and bleeding from his ears. Although its not clear whether the iPod he was listening to acted as an antenna for the bolt of lightning that ran through his body, its melted earbuds and a hole in the back of the case would seem to indicate that it did indeed serve as a pathway for the harmful electricity. Not only did Bunch lose hearing in one ear and his sense of equilibrium, but even worse, the incident also forced him to stand up his date for the evening -- and we doubt he'll get another chance with this particular girl after offering such an unbelievable and lame-sounding excuse for his absence.

[Via The Raw Feed]

[PacketMonkee @ Jul 7th 2006 10:02AM]

Who the hell mows the lawn when it's storming anyway?

[phipps @ Jul 7th 2006 10:04AM]

Now I look at my Ipod, it stares back at me and tells me I'm next.

[Z @ Jul 7th 2006 10:05AM]

It also seems the cord prevented the charge to go through his heart, thus keeping it safe from arrest and saved his life... no? ;-)

[casey @ Jul 7th 2006 10:05AM]

All the iPod silhouttes look like they're being electrocuted when they dance in those damn commercials... was apple forseeing this? =O

[OlivierB @ Jul 7th 2006 10:06AM]

Thank god those porkchops didn't suffer any damage or else he would never be able to date again, ever!

[nizzy1115 @ Jul 7th 2006 10:08AM]

Now the important question...Did the iPod survive?

[jl @ Jul 7th 2006 10:10AM]

two points I found confusing
1. An ipod is relatively small, especially in comparison to a lawn mower, which, I have found, are general constructed of a metallic material

2. Why the hell are you mowing a lawn with a lightning storm approaching. I am assuming, of course, that the first bolt was not the one to strike him and that clouds did form to warn of the on-coming storm

This sounds more like a nominee for a Darwin award than a case of someone I should feel bad for

[Jan-Paul Bultmann @ Jul 7th 2006 10:10AM]

lol
But I suppose he wasn't hit because of the iPod.
Mythbusters proofed in an Experiment that was about lightning attracting piecrings that you have to wear a door knob in your face to higher the chance of getting hit by a lighnting.

But that the power went trgough his headphone is possible although it was probably molten trough after some microseconds.

If the Apple market share is 70 Percent 70 percent of all people geting hit by a lightning with headphones use an iPod.

[alf @ Jul 7th 2006 10:12AM]

I wonder if the lawnmower he was holding onto was one of those with a handle bar made of metal...

Why is it that anything even remotely connected to an iPod becomes news? I doubt the ipod had any effect in attracting lightning (and if it did, it would be pretty nonsignificant).

[Matthew Brundage @ Jul 7th 2006 10:13AM]

Isn't the phrase "iPod equipped teen" a bit redundant?

[Jimmy C @ Jul 7th 2006 10:15AM]

I seem to remember everyone's favorite Myth Busters address the increased chance of lightning striking a person with heavy facial piercings -- perhaps it's time for an iPod revisit?

And I agree with Z -- I'd think that if the iPod did anything at all, it avoided the fatal path through the heart.

(PS: We (Colorado) are fortunate enough to have more lightning strike victims than any other state -- like I need another excuse not to go to work this morning)

[ProjectGSX @ Jul 7th 2006 10:16AM]

Suggestion: DONT MOW THE LAWN WHILE ITS RAINING!

[moo083 @ Jul 7th 2006 10:17AM]

I don't understand how he can possibly believe that it was his iPod when he was sitting there mowing the lawn. It is not uncommon to get struck by lightning while mowing the lawn. How can this guy possibly believe it was the iPod and not the lawn mower?

[georgedakota @ Jul 7th 2006 10:23AM]

This is why if you hear thunder or see rain clouds you shouldnt be outside. Honeslty to show how f'in stupid people are. On the 4th of july in my neighborhood a storm was coming and i could hear thunder in the distance. Yet people on our street stayed in the pools and playing outside till it started raining really hard. Its really ashame but its natures way of weeding out the morons.

[Darren @ Jul 7th 2006 10:23AM]

Yikes!

I also question why he was mowing in an (assumed) rain storm, but still...that's crazy.

[wickedawesome @ Jul 7th 2006 10:24AM]

The dude lost his hearing... it hardly matters whether the iPod works. You can see where the melting earbud burned into his flesh ffs. How about "Best wishes..." instead of a lame date joke?

[Fred @ Jul 7th 2006 10:25AM]

So, when does the class action lawsuit come out?

[dustandechoes91 @ Jul 7th 2006 10:30AM]

it says in most manuals, the warranty does not cover acts of god. I found that one funny myself. One thing that makes me wonder is that if he was using a lawnmower, and he was probably touching it, which meant electricity would have gone through the mower too, doesnt that mean theres a pretty good chance the electricity would have ignited the gas in it?

[saboola @ Jul 7th 2006 10:33AM]

wickedawesome needs a tall glass of chill the f out. It's just a blog, settle down.

[Mr. Tips @ Jul 7th 2006 10:35AM]

"Jason Bunch was listening to Metallica on his iPod while mowing the lawn outside his Castle Rock home Sunday afternoon when lightning hit him."

Dear Lord, please tell me he was listening to the particular album I'm thinking of right now.....

[chouk @ Jul 7th 2006 10:38AM]

Actually the iPod SAVED HIS LIFE... THe iPod sucked the lightning instead of hitting him directly.
Why people always blame iPod stuffs.. pfffff

[James @ Jul 7th 2006 10:42AM]

How exactly does one vomit out of the ear?

[Morton Salty @ Jul 7th 2006 10:44AM]

I agree the ipod gave up it's own life to save that of a stupid young boy.

[Mikep @ Jul 7th 2006 10:49AM]

Watch out ! Metallicas gonna be maiking sure he paid for their songs :)

[Nemesis @ Jul 7th 2006 10:54AM]

I'm sure glad that I got a CREATIVE instead!

[christine @ Jul 7th 2006 10:56AM]

I agree the ipod gave up it's own life to save that of a stupid young boy.
----

LOL!! iawtc

[Hubkap @ Jul 7th 2006 11:00AM]

"How exactly does one vomit out of the ear?"

I was thinking the same thing...

[jipje @ Jul 7th 2006 11:07AM]

Looks like he's a big fan of sideburns.

[shirizaki @ Jul 7th 2006 11:07AM]

Lightning can strike as much as 20 miles away from any lightning generating storm. And freaking accidents can happen: lightning is only the connection of negative particles in the air with positive particles from the ground (I think I have the charges right).



Or simply: God hates Apples. I could see why, since they helped to ruin the garden of eden.

[PeteC @ Jul 7th 2006 11:23AM]

Yep, he should have got an iriver...

[RCA @ Jul 7th 2006 11:23AM]

Ride the Lightning...yikes!

[Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Jul 7th 2006 11:23AM]

> How exactly does one vomit out of the ear?

Easy. Read here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eardrum

[Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Jul 7th 2006 11:24AM]

Or to be more precise here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eustachian_tube

[noonespillow @ Jul 7th 2006 11:26AM]

Sounds like an episode of The Twilight Zone..

[V Hizzle @ Jul 7th 2006 11:38AM]

Make room for the new wooden version coming soon.

[macona @ Jul 7th 2006 11:44AM]

Must have been listening to AC/DC!

[josh @ Jul 7th 2006 11:44AM]

2006 Darwin Award Nominee

This is why people shouldn't be outsdie mowing lawns in thunder and lightning (heck - or even rain). Duh and duh.

[David @ Jul 7th 2006 11:48AM]

Lesson #1. Don't turn the volume up so loud that you can't hear a thunderstorm.
Lesson #2. If it's raining, stop mowing the lawn and go inside.
Lesson #3. Girls are not impressed by guys that haven't learned lesson #2.

[Uninvisible @ Jul 7th 2006 11:51AM]

If anything, the iPod saved his life. Even though he shouldn't have been mowing the lawn in what we'd assume to be bad weather, it would appear as though the lightning was focused mainly on the copper wire of the headphone cord and the iPod itself.

[m-p{3} @ Jul 7th 2006 11:52AM]

So what's the big concern about the iPod ? There are so much people having an iPod, a news like "underwear-equipped teen stuck by lightning" would have the same chance to happen.

[Madmax @ Jul 7th 2006 11:56AM]

What About the poor Girl.....is she still willing to go on a date??

[MshnryMan @ Jul 7th 2006 12:01PM]

How about the more obvious..."God hates metallica" instead of "God hates iPods"

[MshnryMan @ Jul 7th 2006 12:03PM]

and, as a matter of fact...it is very unlikely that it was an apple that Adam and Eve ate in the garden of Eden

[James @ Jul 7th 2006 12:06PM]

He's dumb to think that he lost his chance with the girl. Women love it when men are taken from their point of being strong, it's where they can really show their motherly power. If he was smart he'd milk this for as long as he could.

[tiuk @ Jul 7th 2006 12:09PM]

The mom:
"It's a miracle," she said. "He should not have lived through it."

What, she's a doctor? Lots of people survive being struck by lightning. I'm glad the kid is alive and everything, but come on. I can't stand it when people speak their opinion in a way that makes them sound like they actually know what they're talking about.

[the bug @ Jul 7th 2006 12:14PM]

I don't think you people read articles correcly. He wasn't mowing the lawn in a storm or rain. It said he had atleast 15 minutes to go inside before the storm hits. The lightning must have hit before the storm even arrived.

[CritSafetyBoy @ Jul 7th 2006 12:29PM]

I would stress that even if the iPod played any role whatsoever in the guy getting hit by lightning, the fact that it was an iPod is irrelevant. It could have been an old Sony cassette Walkman and it would have done the same. I find it gratuitous that the fact it was an iPod was such a big part of the story.

[Yaks @ Jul 7th 2006 12:36PM]

RIAA is gonna serve him a lawsuit in the hospital bed for illigally downloading Metallica

[Marco Pervo @ Jul 7th 2006 12:50PM]

"enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon mowing the lawn"

Yeah, if you're a masochist. Lazy and enjoyable were never terms I associated with cutting the grass when I was a teenager.

[Seth @ Jul 7th 2006 1:02PM]

This kid was a fucktard... The iPod was not the Conductor of the strike. As someone elce said in one of the other posts... On Mythbusters they did many lightning experments and the only thing that directly Conducted the lightning was a door knob. The small amount of copper in the head phone conducted the the electricity but after it came through some other Conductor such as the mower. And I noticed that someone said... If the mower was hit would'ent the gas explode?? No it would not. he tank is made out of plastic and the tubes are rubber. The most gas that would have exploded would have been the small ammount of gas that was already in the carborator and in the cylinder.I am thikning that the iPod saved him by compleating a circut to the head phones. In turn just burning them up and causeing no hard to his heart or the rest of is body. Also I was thinking. The hole in the back of the iPod had to of been the battery explodeing due to the high voltage the went into it. The iPod was a mear buffer... a blocker to the lightning to enter his heart