A beach umbrella attendant died while working on Okaloosa Island after he was struck by lightning on Friday. Zachary Foredom, 22, was working behind the Island Princess condominium, reportedly carrying and umbrella when he was struck.
Firefighters received a call at 3:26 p.m. When they arrived, they saw bystanders carrying Foredom to the pool lounging area.
This seemed like the right thing to do, unfortunately, the ambulance reported to where the call originally came in, meaning the victim had to be carried back in order to start CPR.
“They thought they were doing all the good to carry him to the Island Princess,” Capt. John Brinkerhoff said.
Foredom was taken to Fort Walton Beach Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.
So far there have been five lightning strike deaths in Florida during 2016, putting the sunshine state in the lead for lightning strike related deaths.
