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From a local news paper here in CT.
I know Andy he is in the 27th CT...
Thank the Lord he is OK
Shawn Callahan
14th CVI co G
Man survives lightning
Milford resident walks away with headache
By ANNE M. AMATO aamato@ctpost.com
MILFORD
A city man was nursing a wicked headache after being struck by lightning over the weekend in northeastern Connecticut. But Andrew Ocetnik, 53, of East Park Road, said he is just happy to be alive and able to tell the tale.
Ocetnik, a Civil War re-enactor, had just arrived Saturday morning at an encampment at Roseland Cottage, a complex of historic buildings and grounds in Woodstock, when it began to drizzle.
He said he took cover under the branch of a nearby tree with a fellow re-enactor and the next thing he remembers, he was being put into an ambulance and taken to a nearby hospital.
"I have no memory of being hit by the lightning," he said. "There was no warning, no thunder or anything to indicate that would happen."
Donald Hamel, of Norwich, was next to him when the bolt hit.
Both men were knocked unconscious.
"Doctors told me I got an entrance wound in the top of my head, where the lightning got in," Ocetnik said. "I also bit down on my tongue and took a chunk out of it."
He said Hamel got the worst of it.
"He's been drifting in and out and actually got burns on his feet," Ocetnik said. Hamel's vehicle, parked next to the tree, was also hit by the same bolt of lighting that struck Ocetnik's head and exited his body.
"The tires melted," said Ocetnik, who added those who witnessed the lightning strike said there was a "tremendous explosion" when it hit.
"A large portion of the ground where we were standing was dug up by the bolt," he said.
Both men were taken to Day Kimball Hospital in Putnam.
"I had a CAT scan and chest X-rays and they flushed out my kidneys," he said.
Ocetnik said the only after-effect of the incident was a "very serious headache" which he still had on Sunday.
"I'm just glad that's all I have," he said.
Ocetnik was released from the hospital Sunday afternoon.
His wife, Ann Marie, said she was relieved to hear he was doing better and planned to drive up to Woodstock to bring him back home.
"This has been something you don't expect will ever happen," she said.
Woodstock police said the weather Saturday morning changed very quickly from sunshine to heavy downpours, mixed with lightning and thunder. Woodstock is located near the Massachusetts border, about 100 miles from Milford.
According to the National Lightning Safety Institute in Louisville, Colo., lightning kills about 67 people each year. Another 400 people are hit by lighting and survive, but a number of them suffer long-term symptoms such as memory loss, fatigue and weakness.
Ocetnik said he sponsors an annual Civil War re-enactment of the 27th Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry at Roseland.
He said the encampment is usually pretty routine. "I really don't need this type of excitement," he said.
I know Andy he is in the 27th CT...
Thank the Lord he is OK
Shawn Callahan
14th CVI co G
Man survives lightning
Milford resident walks away with headache
By ANNE M. AMATO aamato@ctpost.com
MILFORD
A city man was nursing a wicked headache after being struck by lightning over the weekend in northeastern Connecticut. But Andrew Ocetnik, 53, of East Park Road, said he is just happy to be alive and able to tell the tale.
Ocetnik, a Civil War re-enactor, had just arrived Saturday morning at an encampment at Roseland Cottage, a complex of historic buildings and grounds in Woodstock, when it began to drizzle.
He said he took cover under the branch of a nearby tree with a fellow re-enactor and the next thing he remembers, he was being put into an ambulance and taken to a nearby hospital.
"I have no memory of being hit by the lightning," he said. "There was no warning, no thunder or anything to indicate that would happen."
Donald Hamel, of Norwich, was next to him when the bolt hit.
Both men were knocked unconscious.
"Doctors told me I got an entrance wound in the top of my head, where the lightning got in," Ocetnik said. "I also bit down on my tongue and took a chunk out of it."
He said Hamel got the worst of it.
"He's been drifting in and out and actually got burns on his feet," Ocetnik said. Hamel's vehicle, parked next to the tree, was also hit by the same bolt of lighting that struck Ocetnik's head and exited his body.
"The tires melted," said Ocetnik, who added those who witnessed the lightning strike said there was a "tremendous explosion" when it hit.
"A large portion of the ground where we were standing was dug up by the bolt," he said.
Both men were taken to Day Kimball Hospital in Putnam.
"I had a CAT scan and chest X-rays and they flushed out my kidneys," he said.
Ocetnik said the only after-effect of the incident was a "very serious headache" which he still had on Sunday.
"I'm just glad that's all I have," he said.
Ocetnik was released from the hospital Sunday afternoon.
His wife, Ann Marie, said she was relieved to hear he was doing better and planned to drive up to Woodstock to bring him back home.
"This has been something you don't expect will ever happen," she said.
Woodstock police said the weather Saturday morning changed very quickly from sunshine to heavy downpours, mixed with lightning and thunder. Woodstock is located near the Massachusetts border, about 100 miles from Milford.
According to the National Lightning Safety Institute in Louisville, Colo., lightning kills about 67 people each year. Another 400 people are hit by lighting and survive, but a number of them suffer long-term symptoms such as memory loss, fatigue and weakness.
Ocetnik said he sponsors an annual Civil War re-enactment of the 27th Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry at Roseland.
He said the encampment is usually pretty routine. "I really don't need this type of excitement," he said.
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