Science Teacher Almost Struck By Lighting While Recording Huge Thunderstorm On Facebook Live

A North Carolina teacher was stunned on June 11 during a close encounter with a bolt of lightning while recording a massive storm outside his home.

Shawn Hicks, a seven-grade science teacher at Harnett Central Middle School in Lillington, North Carolina, had been recording a storm on Facebook Live which he hoped to use in a lesson plan regarding what occurs when a cold and warm front collide.

But as the dark clouds gathered over his home, Hicks would be in for a huge surprise.

"Oh Jesus," Hicks can be heard saying as the storm intensifies. "You can tell it’s about to rain by looking at the tops of the trees and how they look white. If you kind of look at this one right here, that’s usually a dark green tree but it’s white right now. And then all of these are kind of lightish color. I’m safe, I think."

He contemplates going back inside but it was almost too late. Then, about three minutes into the video, a bolt of lightning can be seen shooting through the sky right in front of Hicks.

"Whew! Nevermind," he said while catching his breath. "It got me shaking. All right y’all, be safe." At that point, Hicks fled to his house for shelter.

"I knew it was lightning out, but you never really expect to see a bolt come up that close," Hicks told News & Observer.

Hicks said that at that moment he couldn't tell precisely how close he was to the lightning strike.

"It was close enough," he told WNCN. "Once I saw that, I didn’t go back outside until the next day. I was good."

Hicks' close encounter garnered over 360,000 views as of Monday. He urges people to stay in their homes during a thunderstorm.

"I’d recommend doing my mom taught me when I was younger — stay inside during the storm," he told WNCN. "It definitely wasn’t wise, but I think I got the shot of a lifetime that I’ll never be able to get again."