Lightning Death

[bphgravity]

Sad news from Florida:

ST. PETERSBURG - A 16-year-old struck by lightning on Treasure Island last week died Tuesday, an All Children's Hospital nursing supervisor said.

Sam Santilli, a junior at Hillsborough High School student and a varsity soccer player, was at the beach with his mother Friday morning when a lightning bolt struck him in the chest. The impact ripped open his shorts and ripped his T-shirt. A witness said Santilli was purple above the neck and pink and black below the neck after the strike.

The teen played in his high school's marching band and worked at the Citrus Park Town Center Mall movie theater.

Santilli was with his mother, Maureen Machajewski, who was visiting from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, when the lightning hit him.

 

[roger]

Bryan, this is indeed very sad.

Not that it makes a difference in the sadness of this death but, was this a sudden out of no where (as in no warning) lightning stroke with no others before it?

Roger

 

[bphgravity]

I can't say. The weather has been weird here this summer. We have been getting a lot of AM storms instead of the normal afternoon variety. If I recall, there were storms off the west coast on Friday morning. It probably was not the best morning to be at the beach.