Family and friends of teen killed in apparent lightning strike say he brought happiness to those he met
FORT LAUDERDALE - The family of a McArthur High School junior who was killed in an apparent lightning strike this week said his death and the way he died is "unfathomable."
According to family and friends, Cameron Day, 16, was riding his bike home from band practice on Wednesday when he stopped in a neighborhood just south of Pines Boulevard off Southwest 67 Avenue. It was there, while taking cover under a tree, that he was apparently struck.
His parents, Cameron Day Sr. and Lealani Roker, said he was the youngest of their four children and their only son. They said Cameron had overcome so much.
"Cameron was diagnosed with autism at the age of four, and with early intervention and our determination for him to be able to fend for himself if anything was to ever happen to us, he BEAT THE ODDS! Cameron was a tuba player at McArthur High School, a member of SGA, and an Ambassador of the Florida Atlantic University Upward Bound Math and Science TRIO Program," the couple said in a statement.
They said Cameron brought something special to those he met.
"Cameron was LOVED and brought a sinse (sic) of happiness to everyone he came in contact with in their own special way!" they said.
Gwendolyn Broussard, Cameron's cousin, said she's heartbroken and stunned by how he died.
"His smile was worth a thousand words," she said. "It said everything about him."
"Our hearts are ripped. I'm going to be honest with you: If he had been hit by a car, I'd have somebody to be angry with, a little frustrated with — I have no one at all," Broussard continued.
Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue said when they arrived at the scene, Day was in the grass under a tree and not moving. They said he was in cardiac arrest and was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital as a trauma alert. He did not survive.
Fire rescue said while they don't have confirmation yet, it does appear as though Day had been struck by lightning due to the burn wounds on his chest and inner thighs.
Zandra Laguna, who lives across the street from where he stopped, said she saw him just before a storm moved in.
"Then all of a sudden, there was a huge lightning that struck. I went inside because it was really, really loud. I got scared," said Laguna.
She said a few minutes later she went back outside, just as an ambulance arrived.
"I saw the rescue stop right in front of where that boy was, and then I see them picking him up from the floor, and he just looked like, I had a feeling it was that the lightning struck him because it was instantly like from one minute to the next," said Laguna.
"He was riding home, trying to make it home in the rain, I don't understand it, he knew better, he knew better. He was just trying to make it home. He wasn't that far from home," Broussard said.
For his friends, it's a devastating loss. They said Cameron had a passion for music, an unwavering love for his band mates and the band, known as McArthur's Herd of Sound.
"He loved music, that was his life, he enjoyed it and lived it," Broussard said.
"Everybody was shocked. When I heard the news I had goosebumps everywhere. I just, I just feel bad. I was feeling bad. I was just it just like my heart went down," said a classmate.
McArthur High School Principal Mark Howard sent a letter to parents telling them grief counselors are available at the school for as long as needed.
"He was extraordinary, he was humble, he was loving and caring," Broussard said. "Always had that beautiful smile on his face."