A New Jersey man sprang into action when he realized a severe lightning storm was approaching the beach. Sadly, he died trying to warn a group of kids playing in the water about the brewing storm. Lighting struck the man on a Jersey Shore beach on Sunday.
Patrick Dispoto, 59, was out. He had reached safety when he saw a storm coming. The New Jersey man chose to leave the J Street Beach at Seaside Park in Ocean County with his girlfriend, Ruth Fussell, according to News 12 New Jersey. However, he suffered a moment of conscience. He grew concerned for the children playing in the water because all of the lifeguards were gone for the day.
"He said, 'I'll be right back.' I said, 'You have no business going back,'" Fussell told the outlet. "He says, 'I'm just going to warn these kids because the sky is going to open. I'm just going to warn these kids, one minute.' I said, 'No.'" However, Dispoto never returned. His attempts to warn the children ended in his own death.
Lightning Kills Man
According to Fussell, she returned to the beach after 15 minutes when the New Jersey man didn't answer her calls. She found him lying in the sand with a bypassed over him, shouting for help. The children were gone. She began giving CPR to her boyfriend. Emergency responders transported him to the hospital where they pronounced him dead.
"The doctor said 45 minutes after the brain has no oxygen, you have to unplug him. I said, 'No, you can't,'" Fussell shared. Police confirmed that lightning struck the man. His girlfriend remembered him as a hero and always trying to do the right thing. She said he was a hero until the very end. That's what she will remember the most. "His last act of heroism was his ultimate, and that's my Patrick Dispoto."
The New Jersey man's death comes several years after lightning struck and killed Keith Pinto, a lifeguard on the beach. Four others also were injured in the strike. According to the National Weather Service, lightning kills an average of 86 people every year in the United States.
