New Jersey Officer Saves Man Struck By Lightning
New Jersey Officer saves man struck by lightning.
Our hats off this morning to Woodbridge, New Jersey, Police Officer Robert “RJ” McPartland who saved a man’s life in a most heroic way.
Eric Baumgartner was minding his own business, just doing his job when tragedy struck. Baumgartner is a public works employee. While he was painting lines on a soccer field Iselin Middle School earlier this week, he was struck by lightning. Baumgartner never saw it coming. The machine he was riding on is loud, and he didn’t even realize a storm was brewing before a rogue bolt of lighting hit his foot. The strike essentially killed him.
Baumgartner’s coworkers immediately called 911 and Officer McPartland was on the scene within minutes. The three-year veteran of the local police also happens to be a certified EMT and quickly realized Baumgartner didn’t have a pulse. McPartland immediately went into action and started chest compressions.
Thankfully, the 39-year-old worker regained his pulse and consciousness by the time he was rushed by ambulance to the hospital. What’s even more miraculous is that Baumgartner is reportedly in stable condition and expected to make a full recovery.
According to his GoFundMe:
The lightening strike struck him on his right foot where there is an entrance hole on the top of his foot from the strike. Both feet are extremely burnt along with other parts of his body from torso down. They cannot tell what degree burns he has just yet because of the severity of the electricity burns.
The GoFundMe is set up by family of Baumgartner who say:
Eric is an 18-year veteran of the Woodbridge DPW and Parks Division. Eric is also a proud Veteran with the US Coast Guard. Our entire family on Anita’s side & Baumgartner family want to thank everyone for their kind words, well wishes, concerns and help while we all try to get Eric back to his normal self for him and his loving family. Thank you to Officer McPartland from the bottom of our hearts for being so quick responding to the scene and saving our loving brother in-law who none of us can even imagine life without Eric.
The money raised will go toward bills and groceries while their family tries to maintain some semblance of normalcy for their children.
New Jersey Officer saves man struck by lightning.
