Most flashes that I know of charge the capacitor to about 300 volts. That is enough to kill you, but not likely.

With anything high voltage, if you are holding the circuit in one hand and it shocks you, you're probably pretty safe. If you are holding the circuit in both hands, the electric current passes all the way through your body, and stops your heart.

The big lesson here is to not open or try to repair a flash without fully understanding what you're doing. In your case, it sounds pretty odd...