The victim noticed that the sky turned black and wanted to tell the boys that they were playing in the sea.
A man was struck by lightning when he tried to warn children who were in the waterthat a storm was approaching. The event occurred on Seaside Park beach, in New Jersey, United States.
The weather service had issued a warning about the weather conditions for the weekend, but the couple went out to enjoy the day anyway, until the rain came. They never thought that this decision could cost one of their lives.
Patrick Dispoto, 59, was enjoying a silver day with his girlfriend, Ruth Fussell, when the sky suddenly changed color. They immediately picked up their belongings to leave the place, but before leaving he noticed that a group of children remained in the water.
Patrick didn’t want to leave without first warning those boys that it was dangerous for them to be there.So the first thing he did was put his girlfriend safely inside the van, and then go rescue the minors.
“He told me ‘I’ll be right back’ and I said ‘you don’t have to go (with the children),’” Ruth told News 12 about the last conversation between them. However, he believed he was the only one who could save them, since that the lifeguards had withdrawn. “I’m going to warn these children, because the sky is going to open,” she replied and left.
Ruth watched as Patrick ran towards the sea, getting lost among the dunes on the beach. 15 minutes passed and she started to worry, so she called him on the phone. When she noticed that she wasn’t answering, she decided to get out of the truck in the middle of the storm that had already started, to go look for him.
The woman found herself with the worst scenario: her boyfriend was unconscious, lying face down on the shore, next to a man who was asking for help. She ran to assist him and with the other man’s wife they performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation while waiting for medical help.
The ambulance arrived after a few minutes and he was taken to an area hospital, but doctors could do nothing and Patrick was pronounced dead. Although the cause of death was initially unknown, on Tuesday night the local police confirmed that it was caused by lightning.
“His last act of heroism was the greatest exponent and that is my Patrick Dispoto,” said Ruth and asked that her boyfriend be remembered for his last heroic act. The curious thing about the incident is that when the victim was rescued, there were no children nearby, so it is unknown if he managed to save them before his death or if the children had gotten out of the water before his arrival.
