Man hospitalized after being struck by lightning on lake returns home: ‘Truly, seriously, a miracle!’

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC/Gray News) - 19-year-old Craig Morris is home recovering just eight days after being struck by lightning.

“It was truly, seriously, a miracle!” His mom said.

On June 29, 2025, Craig, his girlfriend, her dad and cousin were enjoying the day on Craig’s boat at Logan Martin Lake when storms quickly escalated around them.

“I don’t remember anything. I didn’t even hear the lightning strike,” Craig said. “But I do remember waking up rolling into the ICU out of the trauma bay. It was pretty terrifying to be honest.”

Craig had indeed been struck by lightning. Nobody else on the boat was seriously injured, and his girlfriend’s father later recounted to Craig what had happened.

The boat caught fire and another person on a pontoon boat quickly got to them.

As fate would have it, a nurse was also on that pontoon boat, and she quickly performed CPR on Craig as they carried all of them to shore where first responders were arriving.

He was taken to the emergency room. Craig’s girlfriend then called his mother, Amanda Christopher.

“I need you to be calm, but Craig has been struck by lightning,” his girlfriend said.

When Craig’s mom got to the hospital, Craig was being taken to the Trauma Burn ICU.

Craig said in an interview on Good Day Extra, “I prayed countless times and just believed that there was a reason that I was in the ICU and not in the morgue.”

Meanwhile, his mom felt helpless watching him deal with the agonizing pain.

“That’s probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life, and I hope I never have to do anything worse than that,” she said. “He’s so tough. The trauma team came and talked to us, really identified the entry point and the exit point, confirmed that his brain was not impacted, that his organs were not affected, and that it was truly, seriously, a miracle. It went in his elbow, came out his foot.”

Even though Craig has made a miraculous recovery, he’s still got a long way to go to fully heal.

At the same time, he says it’s not only impacted his perspective on life but also strengthened his faith.

“It makes me cherish even the moments that you don’t think matter,” Craig said. “You know, like when you’re sitting on the couch with your family and you’re so annoyed cause you’d rather be with your friends, you know, like it just makes you want to want to be there a little bit longer.”