HIT BY LIGHTNING, SAVED BY LOVE!

Footy star Jess almost lost her life in a wild electrical storm

- Phillip Koch

It is hard to imagine the sheer terror experienced by Jess Wuetschner when she was hit by a bolt of lightning.

The AFL Women’s star collapsed after the freak act of nature left her disorientated on a metal platform, high above a container ship at the Port of Brisbane.

“I heard this huge crack and big bang, and that was when the lightning hit and I saw it go up my arm,” she tells Woman’s Day. “It was like this blue-white bolt that was flashing. It was really quick. I was in shock and fell to the floor.”

The brilliant Brisbane Lions player, who by night worked as a stevedore unloading ships, remembers being terrified she was going to die as the rain fell and 65km/h gusts rushed past her. “Lucky I had rubber gloves on, which allowed me to release the pole from my hands. They said if I didn’t have those and boots on, I wouldn’t be here,” she recalls of that day in January 2020.

TRAUMATIC EVENT

Jess was suspended in a small metal cage, attached to a crane, which was lowered to the ground a few minutes after she was struck. She was taken to hospital and, incredibly, had no physical injuries.