Miraculous Rescue: Cop Brings Back Lightning-Struck Worker from the Brink of Death
The man had no pulse when the police officer arrived.
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the odds of getting struck by lightning are extremely low. If you live in the United States, there is a one in 15,300 chance you will be hit by a lightning bolt in your entire life. In total, an average of 270 people experience it every year, with 10 percent, or 27, being killed by a lightning strike.
However, a New Jersey public works employee became a statistic this week after being struck by lightning on June 14 and losing his pulse. Luckily, a heroic police officer was close by and rushed to save his life.
Woodbridge town employee Eric Baumgartner, 39, was at Iselin Middle School repainting a soccer field at around 12:30 p.m. A lightning bolt came out of the sky and struck him.
"It was like a bomb, a huge bomb," Iselin resident Jay Heday told ABC7. "Then, out of the window, I saw the guy go down, flat on the floor."
His coworkers promptly called 911. Woodbridge police officer, Robert "RJ" McPartland, assigned to the nearby JFK High School, showed up on the scene within minutes, finding the Woodbridge DPW employee unresponsive and without a pulse. His hands were also burned.
Luckily, he had EMT training under his belt and started chest compressions. "We were able to see some burn marks appeared on his hands, so that was how we were able to determine what happened. And we knew we needed to start compressions to get his heart started again," McPartland said, reports CBS News.
"Once we are in the ambulance and he did get a pulse back, he did slowly begin to gain consciousness while he was still on scene," McPartland said. "He wasn't talking yet. But he was starting to move his limbs and wake up a little bit."
The father-of-two was rushed to the local hospital and is currently in stable condition and expected to make a full recovery. "As of right now, I have every reason to believe R.J. McPartland saved Eric Baumgartner's life," Woodbridge Mayor John McCormick said. "And I can't be prouder of the job that our police officers do."
