AFLW premiership player Jess Wuetschner has told the heartbreaking story of being hit by lightning at work almost three years ago which has “ruined her life”.

The former Brisbane and now Essendon forward was 27 and working as a stevedore unloading ships on the docks in Queensland when the incident took place.

It was the early hours of the morning when part of a crane she was holding was struck by lightning, as she explained on her TikTok account last month.

“A storm just starts rolling in, and it is pouring with rain, I mean like torrential Queensland pour, and the wind is like 60ks an hour, blowing through, it’s like needles to the face,” the former All-Australian said.

“I say to the guy who’s working with me, ‘We should not be working right now, it is too bad of a storm, to be out right now’, but me being just me, little stevedore not in charge, just does what I’m told.”

She was on top of the ship when a “big bang, clap zzz” signified the lightning hitting the pole she was holding onto.

“When this happened, I saw big, bluey white flashes go up my arms, and then I kind of like, from there, just sort of fell to the ground,” she said.

“I was lucky not to be physically affected, I was wearing rubber gloves and rubber shoes, and I was suspended in the air, which means the electricity didn’t go through me, which is my saving grace.

“Saving grace to my life but not so much my mental health.”

Wuetschner thought she was going to die but was taken to hospital and discharged at around 5:30am that morning. Unfortunately for her, the situation only worsened from there.

“It was just the worst thing that could ever happen,” she said.

“I walked out of the hospital with no shoes, soaking wet, no way to get home, no family, none of my friends were answering their phone. I had to get in a taxi soaking wet, by myself, to get home.”

After the incident Wuetschner did not feel she was properly cared for by the workplace.

Two weeks later she had a breakdown and tried taking anti-anxiety medication, but had an adverse reaction to it, resulting in anxiety and panic attacks which put her back in hospital.

Anti-depressants helped her get back to some level of normality including playing football - and she went on to play in Brisbane’s 2021 premiership win - but she could not completely move on and some of her friendships fell apart.

 

“I’m scared to leave the house some days still. I used to travel the world, (but) I couldn’t even think about travelling now. I couldn’t think about leaving anywhere that’s not in my safe zone, in my safe place,” Wuetschner said.

“I’m scared about eating certain things just in case I have an allergic reaction, I’m scared of bugs, I’m scared of any kind of medications that aren’t familiar, I’ll have basically paracetamol and that’s about it. I don’t really like to leave the house still, I still struggle with that a lot just in case something happens. It’s always those what ifs.

“So, that’s kind of what I’ve been struggling with ... that’s why it’s ruined my life and I feel like a different person.”

Wuetschner said some of her issues have begun to improve after working with psychologists.