BARBOURVILLE, Ky. (LEX 18) – It could be argued that Deputy Claude Hudson has some bad luck…or really good luck.
You may remember the deputy’s first brush with death. Hudson and Deputy Keith Liford were attempting to serve a warrant at an Artemus residence in 2017 when officers say the suspect fired several shots at the pair.
Hudson’s badge and bulletproof vest deflected the shot.
"I realized he shot me in the chest. I unzip my shirt and I pull it over and the bullet proof vest caught everything, so. It just bruised me up a little bit but I was ready to return to work the next day if I needed to," Hudson told LEX 18.
Liford was also hit but has made a full recovery.
Fast forward to today. Claude Hudson and two others were standing near the alternator shop at Bargo Hill in Barbourville.
"I get the part, walk around to the front of my cruiser, and just said, ‘hey, can you check to see if this is bad or not?’" Hudson said.
It started pouring rain, so Hudson hurried into the garage. Then, the unexpected happened.
Hudson tells LEX 18 that a bolt of lightning struck the ground near where he had been standing.
"Lightning hits the ground, and the electricity goes out here just like a bomb shelter," he said.
Had he not moved, Hudson could have been killed. The deputy took a photo of the ground where the lightning created a large hole.
He told LEX 18 that he knows someone is looking over him.
"We’ve all got an expiration date and God knows when that is, so when He’s ready there’s nothing that’s going to protect us from that, so, He just shields us in everyday activities."
