Overview
- A 20-year-old man was found unresponsive near a walking path behind a hotel in downtown Celebration after lightning struck nearby and was later pronounced dead at Celebration Hospital.
- The victim was identified as Matthew Eric Jenkins of Shelby Township, Michigan, who had moved to Central Florida the week before to begin the Disney College Program.
- Bystanders, including Felipe Costa and a woman, performed CPR at the scene while waiting for first responders to arrive.
- Jenkins’s family has expressed gratitude to those who tried to help and detectives say they will rely on the medical examiner to determine the precise cause of death.
- Witnesses said the episode underscored the sudden danger of storms and prompted calls to prioritize taking shelter during lightning-prone weather.