Lightning Strike Believed to Have Killed Teen as He Biked

Boy was riding home from school band practice
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 23, 2024 3:00 AM CDT
Lightning Strike Believed to Have Killed Teen as He Biked
Stock photo.   (Getty Images / Robert Nieznanski)

A freak accident killed a 16-year-old as he rode his bike last week in Florida and was apparently struck by lightning. The teen, identified by friends and family as high school junior Cameron Day, was spotted riding his bike in Pembroke Pines Wednesday night, around the time rainy and windy conditions were seen on doorbell video in the area, NBC News reports. A woman in the neighborhood where the accident took place tells CBS News the storm moved in just after she saw the teen on his bike. She saw Day on his bike, and then, she says, "There was a huge lightning that struck. I went inside because it was really, really loud. I got scared." When she next went outside, she saw an ambulance taking the boy away.

Day was reportedly riding home from band practice at school when the tragedy struck, WSVN reports. He was found lying in the grass on his bike with burn injuries to his chest and inner thighs, and there was a hole in the pavement nearby that neighbors say had not previously been there. The teen was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. "I offer my deepest condolences to the student's family and loved ones, teachers and classmates," says the principal of Day's high school, where he played tuba in the school band. A GoFundMe campaign is raising money for his family. (More Florida stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X