JESS Wuetschner has spoken for the first time since being struck by lightning in an incident at work, describing "white bolts" travelling up her arm.
The Brisbane forward is a stevedore on the docks, who often works night shifts and was caught out when lightning hit a pole she was holding during a storm on January 19.
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She was briefly hospitalised and has been recuperating at home, sitting out Brisbane's practice match against GWS and only taking part in her first kicking session on Wednesday night.
"As soon as it happened, I went, 'shit, I've just been electrocuted'," Wuetschner said.
"I didn't pass out or anything, but it was quite shocking. I can't remember too much from that point until I calmed down a bit.
"[I was] pretty much just trying to do my job on the wharf and just happened to be in a storm. I was holding onto a metal pole and that was hit by lightning. I threw up my arms and next thing I knew I was hunched on the ground.
"[I was] pretty excited to find an ambulance at that point of time. It felt like forever. Apparently, the time it took me to get down from the crane to the ambulance was about half an hour, but it felt like hours.
"Once I got to the paramedics, I felt a lot better and a lot calmer, they were fantastic. Once I got to the hospital, I had a few tests and was out in a few hours."
The incident has left Wuetschner – who was in a crib held by a crane about 40 feet above the ground – very shaken.
The 27-year-old described the sensation as "feeling literally buzzed" and a "very short, brief pain".
"I [felt I was] lucky to be alive and still be here, but still scared about the fact I could not have been here," she said.
"I'm quite an anxious person generally, so that kicked me in the guts, then I felt a little bit of anger about why I was there in the first place, in the storm.
"At the end of the day, it (the storm) did seem like it came out of nowhere, so you never really know what's going to happen, so now I'm just really grateful."
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For now, Wuetschner is working towards returning to normality. She is hoping to return for round one but is taking a wait-and-see approach.
"It's not something I'd want anyone to ever experience, but everyone has their things in life which might shake them to this degree, and mine just happened to be being struck by lightning," she said.
"It did really shake me for the first few days, I didn't really know what was going on or if I'd come out on the other side better or if I was injured. The doctors said I was fine, but I didn't really believe it. How could I be?
"I think the support I've had, having my mum up here (from Tasmania) and the club have put me in good stead to come out on the other side."
Most of all, she's looking forward to having a kick with her mates.
"I trained in the gym last night (Tuesday), but this is my first session out on a footy field," Wuetschner said.
"I do feel a little rusty, even though it's only been a week and a half, two weeks, so I think it'll be a good opportunity for me to just get hit and be fine and get back into it.
"I think it'll be a good chance to be where I feel I shine."
