Winthrop man struck by lightning

WINTHROP, Mass. -- A man caught in a fast-moving storm in Winthrop was struck by lightning Sunday afternoon.

The man had been hiking alone on a walking trail in Deer Island Park. The trail, a wide open terrain with very few trees, had few places to take cover. The man was later found unconscious by another hiker.

Several police officers were called to the scene, and the victim was taken to Mass. General Hospital where he remained in critical condition Monday morning.

State police have not released the 49-year-old victim’s identity.

Hikers and residents in the area described the storm as brief and frightening.

Semyon Dukach, a Winthrop windsurfer, said the storm only lasted 20 minutes.

“But when it came, it was a strong downpour and lightning right over you,” Dukach said. “And of course, that’s how it always happens in the summer.”

“We’re actually directed around the other way of the island,” said Kenny DiGrazia, another Winthrop hiker. “And we came up that other way and we see where that man got hit.”

When the DiGrazia family arrived on Deer Island at about 1:30 Sunday afternoon, an ambulance had already arrived but the lightning was still flashing.

“It was still lightning when we got here,” Tricia DiGrazia said. “The sun was out but it was still lightning, so we just assumed that somebody did get hit.”

According to the National Weather Service, about 40 people in the United States die each year from lightning strikes.

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