Golfers describe surviving lightning
strike
19 men knocked out as they emerged thinking storm was
over
NBC News and news services
Updated: 9:40 a.m. ET
June 22, 2004
KREMMLING, Colo. - Survivors of a lightning
strike that knocked out 19 golfers over the weekend told NBC's
"Today" show Tuesday that the lightning arced from man to man as they
emerged from their cars thinking the storm had passed.
John Reyes said that when he came to he
first felt "totally paralyzed" and then felt a surge of pain and
heat. "I thought I was on fire," he told "Today."
Sean McManus said he
experienced a "dead feeling from my chest down."
The lightning strike caught the golfers
by surprise during a tournament set up on a makeshift course last Saturday.
Four of the men were hospitalized and 15 others suffered minor injuries while
playing golf atop a bluff in northwest Colorado.
Participants, who had gone to their
cars during the storm, were hit as they returned to the bluff thinking the
lightning had passed.
"All of a sudden it felt like
someone hit me over the head with a baseball bat," said Kim Douglass, who
was standing near the group of men.
Four of the men were flown to Denver-area hospitals
with what authorities said were life-threatening injuries. By Tuesday, all were
expected to fully recover.
Across the nation, some 100 fatalities
a year are attributed to lightning strikes. Experts advise people to stay
indoors 30 minutes after seeing lightning.
Email: inthemargins03@hotmail.com
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