"Lightning injures and kills in three basic ways. There is the direct strike, which contrary to common thinking, is actually kind of rare. People who take direct hits very rarely survive and what's left of them is a mess. A direct hit will blow your feet off, turn your organs to jelly and permanently scramble your brain like so many semi-conductors. My companion in the car has specific instructions in the event that I take a direct hit and survive. He is to step on my throat.
More common is the side-flash. This occurs when you are doing one of those things that you're told not to do, such as standing under a lone tree, beside a wire fence, under a powerline, beside a metal object, etc. The lightning strikes the object and flashes over to you. Part of the current may go to ground through you and part through the object taking the direct strike. How much goes through you and where it enters and exits your body will largely determine the extent and nature of your injuries. In all likelihood it will stop your heart. Time for the CPR-certified companion in the car.
Next is the little-known phenomena of step voltage. When lightning strikes the ground, the electric charge radiates outward from the point of contact. The ground acts as an insulator, so as the current passes through the earth, the charge is diminished. The more earth it travels through, the more it is reduced. This results in more or less concentric zones of differing potential. If one foot happens to be standing on one voltage potential and the other foot on a different potential, the current will run through your body, once again probably stopping your heart. When you hear of herds of cattle or sheep killed by lighting, it was probably step voltage that got them. If there is a lesson here, it might be to keep your feet together, although it is difficult to stand against the high winds of a thunderstorm that way."
http://www.strikingimages.com/billhow2.htm
So now folk's how do you feel about one of the guys that pays out money to you risk's his life in a lightning storm?