Photo: GoFundMe
Friends of 19-year-old Keith Pinto — who died in a lightning strike while working as a lifeguard on a New Jersey beach — will always remember his fun-loving spirit.
Pinto, who ran track at High School North, was at South Seaside Park on Monday when a lightning strike injured him and seven others after a storm moved into the area around 4:30 p.m.,WCBSreported.
“It was almost like a bomb went off,” Vince Ruffolo, who was at the beach at the time of the strike, told the news outlet.
“Next thing you know, one of our colleagues sees this young man fall off the chair, off the lifeguard, and then there were people in the area trying to work on him,” he added. “You could smell like hair burning.”
Pinto later died of his injuries from the lightning strike, which injured three of his fellow life guards and four others, theAssociated Presssaid.
Another lifeguard, Norman Inferrera III, died on Aug. 20 in New Jersey after the lifeboat he was on flipped over and knocked him unconscious, ABC Newsreported.
AGoFundMecampaign was launched on Monday to raise funds for Pinto’s memorial services and has raised more than $21,000 from donors.
“Words cannot describe how so many of us are feeling right now. We lost a special guy tonight, one who was so close and meant so much to so many people,” organizers wrote on the donation page.
“A complete tragedy that nobody would have ever expected to happen,” they continued. “It would be impossible to get it all into words how much our friend meant to us but we all know how amazing he was. Keith has left behind an overwhelming amount of amazing memories that will live in our hearts forever.”
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“It doesn’t feel real. He was just an awesome person all around,” she toldWCBS. “It’s just … I’m speechless.”
“He was never upset or afraid of anything. He always had a good time,” she added.
According to data from theNational Weather Service, lightning strikes on humans are extremely rare, and so are deaths from such an occurrence. Only about 10 percent of lightning strikes involving people are fatal, but people who survive are often left with severe disabilities.
On average, the United States experiences 43 lightning fatalities a year, the service said.
source: people.com
