Lightning strike strands rower and rescuer

Tuesday 03rd Aug 2010 by theWeather Club

A Sunday afternoon trip on a park lake went badly wrong for a group out for a row on Morningside Lake in New Jersey, USA. The trip had already started to go badly when their boat had become stranded out on the lake. Seeing their distress, park employee Devin Corbett rowed out to help the stranded party. He had just helped an unnamed 22-year-old woman into his boat when a bolt of lightening from a storm that had rolled in struck the water next to the boat and threw them both into the water. Nearby lifeguards instantly jumped into the water and dragged them to shore, along with the other stranded boaters. Once on land, lifeguards worked feverishly to revive them. "Devin was breathing a little bit, but the girl wasn't really breathing," life guard Joe Drobysh said. "The most I've ever had to do in six years of lifeguarding is put a Band-Aid on someone." The pair were taken to a local medical centre, where Mr Corbett is recovering from his ordeal. The woman's condition is unknown.