As with 3 of 4 recent drownings, nearby lifeguard tower was unmanned
Photos for Headline Surfer® / DAYTONA BEACH SHORES, Fla. -- An 11-year-old boy visiting from Georgia was struck by lightning Tuesday afternoon while fishing in knee-deep water with his father in Daytona Beach Shores and rendered unconscious. Thankfully however, a nearby surfing instructor came to his rescue and administered CPR.
Bowen Tyre, however remains in critical condition on this Tuesday night at Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando.
Headline Surfer® has learned from sources that had it not been for the quick action of the surfing instructor, identified as LJ Kuzmovich, the boy might not have made it off the beach alive.
That's because it took a full 5 minutes for emergency personnel to arrive on scene once Kuzmovich started performing CPR, county officials acknowledged.
Even though it wasn't raining and there were no dark clouds overhead, the unthinkable happened at 1 p.m. when the boy was fishing in knee-deep water with his father.
Then just like that came the lightning bolt followed by unmistakeable sound of thunder and the rain after the boy was placed in an ambulance and rushed to nearby Halifax Hospital in Daytona Beach.
Headline Surfer® has learned from sources that had it not been for the quick action of the surfing instructor, identified as LJ Kuzmovich, (shown here on the beach), the boy might not have made it off the beach alive.
That's because it took a full 5 minutes for emergency personnel to arrive on scene once Kuzmovich started performing CPR, county officials acknowledged. Even though it wasn't raining and there were no dark clouds overhead, the unthinkable happened at 1 p.m. when the boy was fishing in knee-deep water with his father. Then just like that, the lightning bolt struck followed by unmistakeable sound of thunder and the rain after the boy was was placed in an ambulance and rushed to nearby Halifax Hospital in Daytona Beach.
The surf instructor, who was operating his summer camp, Pure Life Surf School at the time of the 1 p.m. strike, described the bolt as coming out of nowhere. This 11-year-old boy, identified through social media as Bowen Tyre, was in serious condition as Tuesday turned to Wednesday.
"There was no thunder. It was just a lightning bolt crash, " Kuzmovich said later that afternoon surrounded by Tv camera news crews and other press outlets. "It was just out of the blue."
With extensive training in CPR, the surf instructor didn't hesitate in reacting and running some 40 yards to the victim after his father's screams for help.
"It's one of those fight or flight responses," Kuzmovich said of his instinct yo help as the father cradled his unconscious son in his arms at water's edge amid all the foam build-up from the ebb and flow of the surf.
Updated: These images were posted just after 8:30 a.m today, on a Facebook page set up by Bowen Tyre's family, In the larger image: Bowen is shown on the beach in Daytona with his kid brother during a previous visit. "He didn't have a pulse and we started our compressions and then he started spitting up and we were able to roll him over."
Kuzmovich said 5 minutes passed, which seemed like an eternity, before the Volusia County beach patrol showed up, along with other emergency personnel and the boy was transported by ambulance to Halifax Health Medical Center 10 minutes away.
Bowen was later transported to the Orlando hospital, which specializes in emergency care involving this kind of dangerous weather mishap as he continued fighting for his life -- breathing with the help of a ventilator.
Four other tourists who jumped into the Daytona-area beaches since Sunday of Memorial Day weekend never made it out of the surf alive -- all drowning victims.
Like the situation with the child struck by lightning, there were no lifeguards on towers in three of the four drowning incidents.
"Thank God the surfing instructor was nearby," Volusia County Councilman Joshua J. Wagner said, seemingly at a loss for words as to how or why this could have happened. "The boy is lucky to be alive. From what I understand, the lightning struck him right on the top of his head and burned a hole through a baseball hat he was wearing."
Volusia County has had difficulty with staffing of lifeguards, especially during the holiday weekend because less teens are applying for the part-time positions compared to past years, officials have said.
When asked about the lifeguards shortages, Wagner deferred to county spokesman Dave Byron, who did not return calls for comment.