{"id":330846,"date":"2026-07-06T16:31:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T16:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/330846\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T16:31:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T16:31:09","slug":"lifeguard-survives-indirect-lightning-strike-on-florida-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/330846\/","title":{"rendered":"Lifeguard survives indirect lightning strike on Florida beach"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORMOND BEACH, Fla. \u2014 A Volusia County lifeguard said he\u2019s lucky to be alive after being indirectly struck by lightning while helping<\/a> a beachgoer on the Fourth of July. It happened Saturday afternoon at the Seminole Approach Beach Access on Ormond Beach.<\/p>\n

Damien Curry said he never expected his holiday shift would end with him, as he called it, \u201cbeing electrocuted from the sky.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGod has a plan for me,\u201d Curry said. \u201cIt\u2019s a sign. It\u2019s a sign to tell others to get off the beach when it\u2019s lightning, get inside.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a message Curry is sharing after surviving what few people ever do.<\/p>\n

Curry wasn\u2019t even scheduled to work the holiday, but picked up the shift after lifeguards responded to hundreds of water rescues the day before.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had my hand on the side of the truck, clearing the seat for the lady to get in,\u201d Curry said. \u201cThen boom, explosion, light, I got lifted off my feet and jumped through the passenger door into the driver\u2019s seat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the strike, Curry said his first thought wasn\u2019t about himself.<\/p>\n

He spent the next several minutes checking on everyone else before paramedics evaluated him. Later, he was cleared at the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn my left side, from my hand down to my toes,\u201d Curry said. \u201cMy whole side was pins and needles for a good six hours after. I was in full shock, my ears were ringing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Curry said the danger comes with the job of being a part-time first responder. After this close call, his wife is hoping he\u2019ll take a break from lifeguarding and focus on his growing landscaping business.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not worth it, it\u2019s not worth your life,\u201d Curry said.<\/p>\n

Curry told Channel 9 on Monday he\u2019s still shaken up, but he expects to make a full recovery. His biggest takeaway is that if you can hear thunder, you\u2019re close enough to be struck by lightning.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here<\/a> to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

TOP STORIES FROM WFTV CHANNEL 9<\/p>\n

\u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORMOND BEACH, Fla. \u2014 A Volusia County lifeguard said he\u2019s lucky to be alive after being indirectly struck…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":330847,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-330846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/330847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}