Girl, 15, survives lightning strike on PCB
A 15-year-old tourist visiting from Louisiana with her family survived a lightning strike Monday while sitting on the beach with her family.
The young woman, whose name was not released, was in front of the Grand Cayman resort at 21905 Front Beach Road, said Bay County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Ruth Sasser. Lightning struck an aluminum beach umbrella where she had sought shelter from an afternoon thunderstorm.
The victim was with her mother, boyfriend and a younger sibling at the time. The family is from Lafayette, La.
“They were under a beach umbrella on the sand. She was barefoot, and the lightning struck the tip of the umbrella and traveled down into her body,” Sasser said.
A Bay County EMS team arrived shortly after the 4:15 p.m. strike and examined the young woman, who appeared unscathed other than suffering from a headache, Sasser said. “She was responsive and talking with the EMS technicians,” Sasser said.
Sasser said the young woman took the incident in stride, telling Bay County Deputy Sheriff Stephfanie Wargo, “Coming to Panama City Beach, expensive; riding on a Jet Ski, 50 bucks; getting struck by lightning, priceless.”