Post by Crossbones Dennis on Jun 24, 2010 10:32:43 GMT -6
Florida firefighter is in critical condition after surviving a lightning strike while riding through Colorado Saturday.
William John Carr, 53 of Pompano Beach, Fla., suffered fractures to the face and head and numerous electrical burns when he took a direct hit from a lightning bolt while riding northbound on U.S. 285 with three colleagues.
The bolt blew Carr off his bike and into a ditch, tattered his leather jacket and shirt and left a hole in his head, according to witness accounts.
"Half of his leather jacket and shirt was just blown off him. His helmet was in pieces on the highway. His hair was completely singed and he had a 2-inch round hole on the top of his head. His neck looked broken," business owner Dirk Peratt, who was first on the scene, told the Salida Mountain Mail. All the plastic parts of the bike were disintegrated and the dashboard was "blown apart in a million pieces," he added.
"EMS did an outstanding job," assistant fire chief Charlie Blake said. "They worked on Carr about 15 minutes doing cardiopulmonary resuscitation and got a rhythm. He had a strong pulse when he left the scene. It was a great effort by everyone involved."