Lightning struck a building in Slovenia with such intensity that it not only burned electrical appliances in a woman's apartment, but it shut down a brain implant meant to control neck spasms, according to Fortune.
The woman's physicians outlined the case in an article published in the Journal of Neurosurgery. The patient's neck dystonia has been treated with a deep brain stimulation device for five years with good results, but when lighting struck her apartment, the electromagnetic forces interfered with the device and shut it down.
The patient learned the device had been shut off when her spasms returned an hour after the storm. She went to an outpatient clinic where they turned the stimulator back on, but the article's authors warned other patients with similar implants to stay away from electromagnetic forces such as generators or certain medical equipment.