18 y/o Hit by lighting at Cumberland
 

Lightning Strike Leaves Teen On Life Support

From WLEX-TV website....
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Somerset, KY It didn't look good Monday for an 18-year-old man struck by lightning the day before on Lake Cumberland. He was out on a boat with family when he took a direct hit. It happened near the Burnside community of Pulaski County.

A friend of the family told LEX 18 News that the victim, 18-year-old Gary Burton, Jr. was in the critical care burn unit at the University of Kentucky Medical Center. He could not breathe on his own and no one was sure if Burton would make it.

He was out on a boat on the lake with his father and cousin when the storm popped up. They were trying to make their way into the dock when Burton stood up and the lightning bolt hit him directly in his left shoulder. Folks who were out tell us there were dozens of people trying to get their boats out of the water when the storm rolled in. The Burtons were waiting their turn when the bolt hit Gary.

Tina Day saw things unfold moments after the strike. "We just saw the boat circlin' around and all of a sudden we just seen the guy start his boat and come flyin' into shore with it really fast," Day tells LEX 18 News. Lt. Barry Shoemaker with the Dept. of Fish & Wildlife says, "the storms around here blow up so fast. You can leave the marina and it'll be beautiful, and 20 minutes later you can be in a bad storm."

Burton has bad burns to his back and legs. He's from Cincinnati. Gary has only been living in Pulaski County for the last month with his cousin.

Story filed by Wes Hyland August 11, 2003

LINK: WLEX-TV (Lexington, Ky.)

Sounds like he should have stayed seated. I hope all is well, I was out on Monday night and it began to storm and lightning and I was out of there. I have never been afraid of lightning until lately when I hear of so many strikes. I think the old saying "you would be struck by lightning before you win the LOTO" is truer than ever.

Sunday I had to abandon my Seadoo at a marina and get a ride home by car with a friend, because it was lighting so bad at SML. Lighting scares the He%% out of me. I hope this boy recovers.

Will:(

Sunday, I remember it stormed and lighting very bad all night. Hope he is going to make it.

I have a lightning story that I lived to tell about.

I was out on the water a few years ago with my son and nephew. There had been storms in the area but when we went out it was clearing up. While we were out I started to get a lot of static on the VHF radio. I adjusted the squelch and volume but the static was still there. I turned the radio off and then noticed that the crackling sound was coming from the antennae itself. I stopped the boat and lowered the antennea and the sound went away. I raised it again and the sound came back. I called to my son and nephew to come out of the cabin and take a look at this weird phenomenon. They took a look and then my son said to look at my nephew's hair. It was standing straight up! He then noticed that when you put your hands above your head your fingers would tingle. I then realized what was happening. We were under a positive charge cloud that was looking for a ground. Needless to say we all ducked down and got the hell out of there.

I believe we were very lucky that day. Who knows how close we were to being hit. I have a lot more respect for storm clouds now.