Fla. Man Survives Backyard Lightning Strike

July 09--COOPER CITY -- A man was hospitalized after lightning struck a tree in his backyard, stunned him and tossed him into the air Tuesday afternoon, a neighbor said.

Nick Carman, 25, was jolted at about 1 p.m. in the 5100 block of Southwest 93rd Avenue and taken to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, next-door neighbor Patty Sehringer said.

"It looked like he was in shock, he was limping and he looked white as a ghost," Sehringer, 50, said.

Officials with Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue reported that "an adult victim" was in stable condition after a lightning strike early Tuesday afternoon.

Dark and stormy conditions had set in, the wind blew sideways and the crack of lightning was so deafening Sehringer said she thought it had hit her house.

"It's the loudest crack I've ever heard. It was scary," Sehringer said. "My dog peed on the floor, it was that crazy."

Sehringer said she immediately called to check on Carman, whom she had seen outside.

Carman called back four minutes later and said he'd been struck while on the back porch, Sehringer said.

"It jolted him, and he said it flung him in the air," she said. "I guess it traveled and hit him. If it hit him directly, he wouldn't be talking to me."

Carman called 911 himself, Sehringer said, and she babysat his 4-year-old daughter while paramedics came, she said.

Sehringer said Carman is an officer with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and not easily shaken. "He seemed rattled," she said. "He's lucky he's alive."

A man died last month after he was struck by lightning while working under clear skies on the roof of a Pompano Beach auto dealership. A co-worker suffered minor injuries.

Robert Elliott, 55, was struck May 28 and taken to a Miami hospital where he died five days later.

emiller@tribune.com, 954-356-4544 or Twitter @EmilyBethMiller

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