A 16-year-old teenager tragically lost his life on Wednesday afternoon in Pembroke Pines, located in Broward County, Florida, after being struck by lightning. Shortly before the incident, weather conditions in the area deteriorated rapidly, with heavy rain and strong winds.
The young boy, identified as Cameron Day, was riding his bicycle home when he stopped in a neighborhood on 67th Avenue, near Southwest 6th Street. He was found lying on the grass under a tree after the lightning strike.
Cameron was a junior at McArthur High School in Hollywood. Zandra Laguna, a local resident, witnessed the aftermath of the tragedy. Laguna told local media that around 5:00 p.m., she went outside searching for her cat and saw Cameron across the street.
"It looked like he was waiting for someone. He was on his bicycle but not riding it," Laguna said, adding that moments later, she heard the deafening sound of a lightning strike and rushed back inside her home.
The emergency services were alerted shortly after the incident. "The individual was lying on the grass, motionless, under the rain next to his bicycle," reported one of the 911 operators.
When paramedics arrived, they found Cameron in cardiac arrest with visible burns on his chest and thighs, confirming that he had been struck by lightning. Despite efforts to revive him at the scene, Cameron was transported to Memorial Regional Hospital as a trauma alert, where he passed away shortly after arrival.
Another Recent Lightning Fatality in Florida
This is not the first tragic lightning-related death in Florida this month. On Saturday, Adrián García (also known as Adrián Chile García), a young Cuban, died after being struck by lightning on August 31st while at a beach in Naples on Florida's west coast.
Adrián, 27, suffered severe brain damage and was on life support, awaiting a miracle for his recovery. The lightning struck while he was enjoying the sea with his family. Although the rain had stopped, and the sky seemed clear, the lightning bolt hit Adrián and two other family members. While the others recovered quickly, Adrián sustained irreversible injuries.