Survivors of Satellite Beach lightning strike mourn friend

SATELLITE BEACH, Fla. — Andre Bauldock said he was playing a game of cornhole with his friend Lamar Rayfield when lightning struck them both, knocking him unconscious and killing Rayfield Friday evening in Satellite Beach.

Bauldock said he and Rayfield and another friend, Sal Kucuk, started playing before 5 p.m. when they remember showers and lightning starting.

"I seen it go right through him, the sparks went out, got him. They both at the same time collapsed," said Kucuk.

Bauldock and Kucuk said the three had believed they were safe because they weren’t in the water.

After being struck, Bauldock briefly lost consciousness before waking up with no memory of being struck.

"When I came back to, I was already up and asking what going on," Bauldock said. "They said 'You got hit by lighting.' I'm asking, 'What do you mean?' because I'm moving fine at that point."

It happened on the beach near the 500 block Highway A1A just after 5 p.m. Friday, officials said..

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"I looked onto the beach to see if it hit anything out there and I saw a man lying down and another man went up to him, leaned over and then ran away panicked," he said.

Pat Dalton was also one of the first people on the beach after the lightning hit and said he spent 10 minutes giving CPR to one of the victims until emergency workers arrived.

A lifeguard was already performing CPR when he got there and Dalton took over.

"(I) relieved her to do CPR and I stuck on him until the fire rescue showed up," he said.

Dalton said he often surfs in the area, even when it's storming. That is not something he planned on doing in the future.

"I never worried about it until now, and there's no way in hell I'm ever going to be out like this," he said. "I just told my son, 'Next time lightning ever comes near you on the beach, just get out."

Less than three hours after the lightning hit, one of the victims, later identified as Rayfield, 35, of Philadelphia, died at the hospital, deputies said.

The second victim was still receiving treatment but was in stable condition, officials said.

Ten people have died from a lightning strike this year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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Cox Media Group