Mr Fellows did not realise he had been struck until hours later

Alistair Fellows, 43, from Stretton in Burton-on-Trent, had stepped out of his van during a storm in Tutbury when the bolt struck him.

Mr Fellows said he felt nothing at the time, his arm only beginning to swell five hours later. He was also left with slightly impaired hearing and sight.

Colleagues at Burton Albion FC, where he works in maintenance, have nicknamed him "Flash" and "Lightning".

Close calls

Mr Fellows said: "There was a flash, and the thunder and lightning came at the same time.

"I didn't realise anything had happened until a bit later on.

"My arm started to swell up, and my wife noticed that there was a mark on my arm."

The experience has caused Mr Fellows to reflect on the close calls which have dogged him over the years.

People just can't believe how lucky/unlucky I am

Alistair Fellows

From the age of 12 until last Thursday, when the lightning struck, he has had four lucky escapes with electricity.

As a boy he suffered a shock as he pulled a plug from a socket, and twice in his 20s he narrowly escaped injury - once when he sliced through the live cable of his electric lawnmower, and again when he hacksawed through a shed cable he did not realise was live.

Toothbrush in ear

Mr Fellows also broke his skull twice in his teens.

He also told the BBC that, in 1990, he had to go to hospital to have a toothbrush extracted from his ear after he fell in the shower. "That was embarrassing," he said.

No serious problems occurred from 1992 until 2004, when Mr Fellows was seriously injured when his car was hit by a lorry.

"People just can't believe how lucky/unlucky I am," he said.

"My wife is going to get me a crash helmet for my 50th birthday."