A Volusia County, Florida, lifeguard is thanking God after surviving a lightning strike this weekend in Ormond Beach. Damien Curry, a part-time lifeguard and candidate for Ormond Beach mayor, was responding to a call about a woman who needed help getting to her car near the Seminole Avenue access point when the bolt hit nearby.
Curry described the incident, saying, “I’ve got my hand on the side of the truck, and then all of a sudden boom! It just blows up, and I jump through the truck. I get lifted off my feet.” He added, “I’m shaking, I mean I’m violently shaking. I was in panic. My whole left side of my body was tingling, pins and needles. It was like a bomb went off.”
Despite being shocked, Curry was able to pull himself together, help the woman, and then drove down the beach, warning others about the lightning. He said, “I’m literally on the PA with the lights on going, ‘get off the beach! I just got struck by lightning, you’re gonna die!'”
Curry was checked out by paramedics and went to the hospital, where he was treated for his injuries. He is now recovering and feeling much better. The incident has left him shaken, and he has decided to take a break from lifeguarding.
Original reporting: 40/29 / KHBS (NW Arkansas) — read the source article.
