In a shocking turn of events at the Robertson Show, food vendor Luke Arnfield-Thompson was struck by lightning while opening the back door of his ice cream truck.

“During the storm yesterday, lightning struck the power pole near our ice cream van while Luke was opening the back door,” shared South Coast Serves on their Facebook page.

“It resulted in an indirect lightning strike, traveling through the connection and giving him a shock.”

In 2025, there were more than 10 million lightning strikes, including 7 million ‘ground strikes’, according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).

These numbers can add up quickly.

In December 2025, the NSW Rural Fire Service shared that almost 950,000 lightning strikes had occurred across NSW in the previous 24 hours.

Despite this, ‘human hits’ are uncommon. There are between five and ten deaths from lightning strikes in Australia each year, and over 100 injuries. 

The 20-year-old was checked over by paramedics, taken to hospital as a precaution, and thankfully released shortly after to recover at home.

“He’s a bit sore but doing well, and our family is incredibly grateful it wasn’t any worse,” South Coast Serves added in an update.

They also thanked the “amazing” Robertson Show volunteers, members, and bystanders who jumped in to help during the high-voltage situation.

“We’re feeling very grateful today for the people around us and the care Luke received,” they said.

“The upside, according to Luke, is that he might now be able to run the ice cream van without plugging it in … but we’re still testing that theory.”