God’S Little Peck

After arguing with his mother about religion, 16 year-old non-believer Josh Rempel ended the exchange with this challenge; “If there’s a God may He strike me down with lightning!” Less than 24 hours after his brash declaration a lightning bolt from the heavens tore into him, knocking him unconscious and changing his life.

“I believe in a higher being now,” says lucky Josh.

Doctors told him it was a miracle he survived the 4000 volts that ripped through his body. “I believe I was spared,” declares the grateful youngster.

His mother Susan, who describes herself as very spiritual, said she and Josh had been discussing the existence of a higher being when he issued his challenge. “ He never believed in God,” she said.

But the next day, Josh and his brother Isaac were in a park near their home in Alberta, Canada when a sudden thunderstorm rolled in. Isaac made a quick stop in a men’s room while Josh waited outside as the rain began.

“I was standing under a tree when the lightning hit,” he recalled. “All I remember is this blinding blue and white light and then I suddenly went numb. I blacked out. The lighting entered me by hitting a steel button on the top of my baseball cap, singing off a clump of hair on my head.”

When he heard the “boom” of the lightning strike, Isaac rushed outside. He was stunned to find Josh on the ground with smoke coming from his hat. Josh regained consciousness in about 30 seconds. His brother helped him to his feet and guided him to a nearby clinic. He was later treated in a hospital and released.

“Thank God, Josh is alive,” said his mother Susan. “But it’s changed him. It really has.” As the teen recuperated, his loving grandmother called and offered these telling words to her Zapped grandson: “God gave you a little peck on the head, didn’t He?” The once non-believing Josh smiled and said, “I guess He did”.