An ICU nurse was nearby to help at the Whitchurch-Stouffville, Ontario golf course when a 60-year-old man was struck, and revived him with CPR before ambulances arrived.
Four men on the 18th hole at Rolling Hills Golf Club in Whitchurch-Stouffville, Ontario were struck by lightning, the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Inquisitr reported.
Many golfers had already sought refuge in the clubhouse, but others were still outside on the 18th hole attempting to get their golf clubs out of the rain. As the storm quickly approached, those inside said they heard a loud bang and knew the lightning strike was very close, Inquisitr reported.
Chris Burden, an ICU nurse, was in the clubhouse when the storm hit. He told GlobalNews that all of a sudden the room was “overwhelmed” by thunder and he knew someone was hit. He rushed outside to see a 60-year-old man laying face down about 50 yards from the 18th hole. Burden acted quickly, Inquisitr reported.
“His body was burned, his face, his hands, everything we could see was burned,” Burden said. “He was purple, he was ashen at the time. His eyes had rolled back into the back of his head and it was just purely instincts to start CPR.”
Several witnesses to the incident thought the man was dead. According to one witness named Peter Epstein, not only was the man badly burned, but his clothes were also completely melted. “He wasn’t breathing and he didn’t have a pulse, and he wasn’t conscious. He was dead,” Epstein said.
Luckily, Burden was not alone to help revive the man. Burden’s brother, who also happened to be a police officer, was by his side to help. Burden initially did two minutes of CPR while they waited for an ambulance to arrive. After two minutes, his brother took over. Just as they were about to switch, another loud clap of thunder and lightening came down from above. The pair thought they would be hit, but just as the officer began his chest compression series, the man began to breathe again, Inquisitr reported.
“His eyes started to open, he started to move his hard and started to move his arms,” Burden said. “I started looking at my brother as if to say, I think we got him, I think we got him back.”
The brothers remained with the man until paramedics made it to the scene. After the man was whisked away, the two went back into the clubhouse to enjoy a much earned soda and burger, Inquisitr reported.
“My brother’s a cop, I’m a nurse, we’re public servants,” Burden said. “We do our job for others, we don’t do it for ourselves. We work to make other people better and safer and we’ve done that for years and years now. So the hero thing, it’s a title. I just did what I knew I could do in that situation. Luckily what I did, it helped save this guy. I hope what I did has given him a chance at another 30 years of life. I hope.”
As for the other golfers, Epstein told The National Post, one man was on his knees, clearly disoriented, while another was also taken to the hospital. Four golfers in total were injured in the incident, Inquisitr reported.
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