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Man killed by lightning in New Jersey while warning others of dangerous weather

Patrick Dispoto was returning to beach to warn swimmers of lightning danger when he was struck and killed

Lightning strikes in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area on 26 June 2024. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Lightning strikes in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area on 26 June 2024. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

A man was killed by a lightning strike after returning to a beach in New Jersey to warn other bathers of the dangers of an approaching storm.

Local television station WABC reported that Patrick Dispoto, 59, and his girlfriend, Ruth Fussell, had left the beach at Seaside Park as the storm approached when Dispoto decided to go back and tell some young people still in the water of the impending danger.

Patrick Dispoto. Photograph: Legacy
Patrick Dispoto. Photograph: Legacy

“He said, ‘I’ll be right back.’ I said, ‘You have you have no business going back.’ And he says, ‘I’m just going to warn these kids because the sky is going to open. I’m just going to warn these kids – one minute.’ I said, ‘no,’” Fussell told WABC.

Fussell said she waited for him to return to their truck and when he did not she went to look for him on the beach, finding him prone on the sand after apparently being struck by lightning.

Emergency services were called but Dispoto was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Fussell told WABC that Dispoto loved to help people. “So, his last act of heroism was his ultimate, and that’s my Patrick Dispoto,” Fussell said.

The incident happened last weekend, and Seaside Park on Wednesday installed the Strike Guard Lightning Detection System. Officials told CNN the move had been pre-planned for several months and was not in direct response to Dispoto’s death.

Author: Guardian staff

Source: The Guardian

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