Tom Wood
An incredible and terrifying piece of home security footage shows the moment that a man was struck by lightning on a soccer field in New Jersey.
39-year-old Eric Baumgartner was out painting the lines onto the field in Woodbridge Township when the thunderstorm rolled in, but wanted to get the job done before the rain came, according to CBS New York.
However, the storm on that Wednesday afternoon was already there, and the shocking video taken from a nearby resident’s CCTV camera shows a crack of lightning coming down from the sky to strike the unfortunate man as he worked away on the pitch.
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Nearby resident Jay Heday told CBS: "It was like a bomb.
"Then I look out the window.
“The guy's right in the middle.
“He went down."
Another witness, police officer R.J McPartland, was just getting out of work at a nearby high school when he saw the lightning strike.
"I was in my car, and I did see a very large lightning strike, and, you know, I said to myself, 'Wow, that seemed really close,'" he said at a news conference.
So, he set off towards the field and started giving the man CPR.
He continued: "We were able to see, you know, some burn marks appeared on his hands, so that's how we were kind of able to determine what happened, and we knew that he just needed to, you know, start compressions to get his heart going again.”
McPartland explained how Baumgartner – who is a father to two young boys – slowly started to come back to consciousness as he was rushed off to hospital in an ambulance.
"We were trying to talk to him the whole time," he added.
According to a friend called Ray Deliman, Baumgartner has no recollection of the strike itself.
"He remembers doing his job and then remembers waking up in the ambulance, had no idea what happened," he said.
"You never know until it's your turn," Deliman continued.
"We just hope he pulls through because we need him here.
“He's a good guy."
Some 20 people are killed in the USA each year by lightning strikes, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.
On top of that, hundreds more people are injured by electrical weather activity.
Just remember to stay away from metal structures or objects, as well as – preferably – staying inside if there is electrical activity in the air.