Woodbridge, N.J. lightning-strike victim Eric Baumgartner in good spirits despite being burned on 16% of his body
WOODBRIDGE, N.J. -- The odds of being struck by lightning are higher than winning the lottery. Though, it's not something people expect to happen.
But, one New Jersey man got lucky after he was struck Wednesday on a school sports field.
It was a heart-pounding scene caught on camera. A lightning bolt struck 39-year-old Eric Baumgartner on his foot while he was painting the lines of a soccer field at Iselin Middle School in Woodbridge Township at around 12 p.m.
"This is really very freaky," neighbor Mary Balint said.
Town officials say Baumgartner was hoping to finish the task before the rain came, but the weather turned unexpectedly.
The lightning strike knocked him unconscious.
Baumgartner laid there helpless and badly burned until Woodbridge Township Police Officer R.J. McPartland, who is also a certified EMT, got to the scene. He arrived within minutes and performed CPR right away.
"We just knew he needed to start compressions to get his heart going again," McPartland said. "Once we were in the ambulance and he did get a pulse back. he did slowly begin to gain consciousness."
Town officials said the officer is a hero.
"R.J. McPartland saved Eric Baumgartner's life," Mayor John McCormac said. "He's very lucky very lucky that everybody was where they should have been when they should have been."
Dr. Erin Muckey is the medical director of the Emergency Department at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and University Hospital.
"The case of direct lightning strikes, where someone is completely unresponsive, the most common form of death is cardiac arrest and so and so the most important thing to do is deliver CPR," Muckey said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 40 million lightning strikes hit the ground in the U.S. each year, but the odds of being struck by lightning in a given year are less than 1 in a 1 million, and almost 90% of lightning strike victims survive.
Muckey says the high survival rate is due to education.
"The public understanding and people feeling comfortable to be able to deliver CPR," Muckey said. "Those who survive those initial moments actually have a really good prognosis."
As for Baumgartner, he is a U.S. Coast Guard veteran and a married father with two young boys. His wife declined an on-camera interview, but said he is in high spirits, despite the fact 16% of his body was burned.
"We just hope he pulls through. We need him here. He's a good guy," friend Ray Deliman added.
CBS2 was told Baumgartner is still listed in stable condition in the burn unit at St. Barnabas Hospital.
