Teenage goalkeeper returns to pitch two weeks after being struck by lightning

A 16-year-old goalkeeper is back between the sticks for his team just two weeks after being struck by lightning.

Ivan Zaborovsky was rushed to hospital after being hit by a bolt during a warm-up near Moscow on 4 July.

Footage from the stadium where his youth team FC Znamya Truda were training showed an electric current ripping through a gloomy sky and landing directly on him.

He then crashed to the ground unconscious.

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Coach Anton Basov ran over to discover his goalkeeper lying face-down on the pitch.

He flipped him over to find the front of his jersey had been burned.

After Basov performed first aid, Zaborovsky was taken to hospital, where he was put in an induced coma to assess his injuries.

Few thought he would survive but less than three weeks later, Zaborovsky has returned to the pitch.

The only thing that reminds him of what could have been a deadly incident is a burn on his chest where he had been wearing a chain.

Zaborovsky, who idolises Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea, said: "It was difficult to breathe, but that's about it.”

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He said he didn't remember anything from the day of the incident.

"It's getting better and better now,” he said. “Things are back to normal."

On Tuesday, Zaborovsky signed a contract with his club's senior team, which plays in Russia's third division, something that had been planned before the lightning strike.

"Ivan is the goalkeeper on the regional team. He has good prospects," Basov said.