Overview
- The lifeguard, who was struck Saturday, July 4, said lightning hit his patrol truck while he had his hand on it, lifting him off his feet and sending a shock through his body.
- After the strike he helped a woman to safety, drove down the beach warning people over the public-address system, and was later checked by paramedics and taken to a hospital.
- Medical staff released him the same day after symptoms such as tingling subsided, but he reports ongoing trauma and panic attacks and has decided to step back from lifeguarding to recover.
- Reporters noted other holiday-weekend strikes in Florida, including a Seminole County deputy injured when lightning traveled from a struck tree and a fatal strike on Fort Myers Beach, underscoring the sudden danger to responders.
- Officials and experts warn that Florida summer storms can produce deadly lightning even in light drizzle because energy can transfer through vehicles or trees, and they urge seeking indoor shelter at the first sound of thunder and waiting after storms before returning outdoors.