JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Three people from the same family are recovering after being struck by lightning at the St. Augustine Beach Pier.
It happened Saturday, July 12th, while Jayme Schuyler and her 82-year-old parents, Philip “Sparky” Schuyler, and her mother, Diane Schuyler, were visiting the pier.
Jayme said her dad has jokingly taken on the new nickname since the incident.
The strike happened during what was supposed to be a relaxing outing with her parents.
“He is the primary caregiver for my mom. She has dementia and mobility issues, so he doesn’t really get the chance to get a break very often,” Jayme told Action News Jax.
She says she and her parents started to make their way off the pier when they noticed lightning strikes off in the distance, but it was too late.
“I all the sudden felt a ton of bricks hit me in the head. So I got struck, but then it kind of knocked me sideways. And then I looked over at my dad, and my dad was on the ground. He was face-first. It struck him in the head and came out his chest so they had a big hole in his shirt where it came out. So from what I understand, I got 10 percent of it and he got 90 percent of it,” Jayme said.
Jayme refused treatment because she didn’t want to leave her mother, but her father was airlifted to a Gainesville hospital and placed in the Trauma ICU.
“It’s a miracle that he’s alive at 82 years old. He’s a tough guy,” she said.
Jayme’s mother, who was in a wheelchair, wasn’t injured in the strike. The outcome is being attributed to the chair’s rubber wheels.
Following the strike, St. John’s County leaders say they are working on expanding the county’s lightning detection systems to more facilities across the county.
A spokesman from the county shared this statement with us:
“St. Johns County has lightning detection devices at all its athletic fields. We are working towards installing lightning detection equipment at all major facilities, including the St. Johns County Ocean & Fishing Pier. Many of the parking lots, pavilions, boat ramps, and facilities among our 2,586 acres of parkland and the 42 miles of coastline near our public beaches are considered passive parks, with transient participation and lighting detection is used where it is applicable. Public safety will remain one of our top priorities.”
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Neighboring communities have similar lightning detection systems in place.
The City of Fernandina Beach has lightning detectors in six locations:
- Atlantic Recreation Center
- Main Beach Park (Popular Beach Park)
- Central Park
- Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center
- Seaside Park (Popular Beach Park)
- Ybor Alvarez Sports Complex
Atlantic Beach in Duval County says its beaches are equipped with the technology, too.
As for Jayme and her parents, they say they’re just grateful to be alive.
Their family has created a GoFundMe to support their family while her father recovers.
All three family members are expected to be okay.
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