Milwaukee sports talk radio personality Bill Michaels struck by lightning, but he was back on the job later in the day

JR Radcliffe | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Popular Wisconsin talk radio host Bill Michaels, whose late morning and early afternoon sports program is carried on stations all over Wisconsin, was struck by lightning Thursday in Eau Claire, an encounter detailed in a Facebook post by his wife, Sherry. The post indicated he was treated locally and released.

Michaels, whose "Bill Michaels Show" runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is based on FM-105.7 The Fan in Hales Corners, had traveled to Eau Claire and was hosting his show remotely when his signal went dead mid-sentence in the first hour of his program. Producer Joe Zenzola took over thereafter, and CBS 58 personality Kevin Holden later joined the broadcast.

Michaels had been hosting from a patio at Wild Ridge & Mill Run Golf Course, site of the Junior Achievement Golf Outing, when a small cell of thunderstorms moved into the area just as Michaels had finished an interview with newly minted Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Kramer. He detailed the incident at the outset of his Friday show, still broadcasting from Eau Claire.

"We chose to go on the patio because it was supposed to clear up, the fog was supposed to lift," Michaels said on his show. "The patio has metal tables, kind of a meshy type of patio table. We had a couple together, had some chairs with us. We were under cover, well away from what we believed to be the elements.

"I was sitting at the table ... as Joe and I were having this conversation. A lightning strike had taken place. It wasn't directly to me, but it had taken place in the area. There was enough energy - I don't know how to put it - but it hit me. It jolted me, I guess, is the best way to put it. It burned my arms, burned my fingers and found out later it had blown out through my shoe."

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Michaels said a witness saw the strike from inside the building behind the patio and immediately came out to make sure Michaels was OK.

"I casually got up, told a few people we're off the air, I can't do the show," he said. "We're probably going to head back to the studio. I just need to know the location of the nearest hospital, because I think I've just been hit by lightning."

Michaels stayed in the hospital for four hours but was given a clean bill of health. He reiterated that he's totally fine.

"The only remnants I have left over from this is my finger is completely swollen up like a blister from a burn, and I need a new pair of shoes," he said. "That's about it. ... I figure I've got my one-in-a-million shot out of the way."

Michaels offered thoughts during the evening preseason Packers-Steelers game and posted a blog on the team's need to acquire defensive end Khalil Mack.

Time for Mack to be a Packerhttps://t.co/QO1eMi73Ql — Bill Michaels (@Bill_Michaels) August 17, 2018

Michaels has been a staple of Wisconsin sports talk since 1999. In 2015, he had another unusual health scare while visiting his hometown of Cincinnati. As he tried to start a snowblower, he tore a triceps when he struck an electrical box on the side of the house, then fell to the ground and sustained a concussion.