Lightning struck the free beach of Soverato, in the Catanzaro area, and four people were injured: husband, wife, a 6-year-old child and his maternal grandmother, all originally from Bergamo but on vacation in Calabria.
The most serious is the man, 45 years old, who was hospitalized with a reserved prognosis in the resuscitation ward of the “Pugliese Ciaccio” hospital in Catanzaro. His wife and son, in less worrying conditions, were also taken to the hospital in the capital. The mother-in-law, on the other hand, who suffered minor injuries, was treated in the Soverato hospital. 118 personnel and the carabinieri came to the aid of the family.
“We intervened promptly – says the commissioner of 118, as well as commissioner of the helicopter rescue and director of the emergency room of the hospital of Soveratese, Cosimo Zurzolo – The 118 operators, the emergency room and the anesthetists worked in synergy, managing to stabilize the patient more serious, the child, the mother and the grandmother in evident state of shock. The man is in a pharmacological coma and is in a reserved prognosis “.
Unharmed but in shock the other bathers present, surprised, together with the family, by the violent downpour that hit the Ionian town.
When the storm broke, the four decided to leave the beach. According to the first reconstructions of the medical staff, it was the child who was struck by lightning. The baby was in his father’s arms and was supposed to be the conductor for the electric discharge which then spread over the man’s wet body.