Lightning Strike

I cannot tell you how Harrowing and eye opening this experience was. Harrowing, because someone should never ever have to see a good friend hurt. It takes a toll that you could not imagine. Eye Opening because, I saw a strength in this friend that I would never have seen otherwise. I cannot put enough emphasis on how impressed I am with George Judd's ability to stay cool under pressure. The piece of the story that is not told in the Front Porch is that I am certain that had I not been there, George would have saved himself. I played a valuable role in getting him out, true... but he was gonna get out of there even if he had to do it on his own. In fact, he walked up the ravine with help but on his own two feet. His presence of mind, physical strength and years of military training (albeit Air Force) came together to make what could have been an absolute disaster into a success story. I am dealing with this subject very lightly in conversation with friends and at times in this post because.... well... George is ok... he will make a one hundred percent physical recovery. Mentally, however neither of us will ever disrespect a thunder storm again. Read on .. it will all make sense Enjoy Dave ************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** George and I put in at Motts Run. The trusty iPhone indicated that the weather was moving away from us. We had planned to stay in that general area and not go any real distance. George had never been in a Kayak before and was very interested in learning. Drizzling rain began to fall, but what the hell, we were going to get wet anyway. We paddled the 16 ft touring boats around as the rain increasingly fell harder. Neither of us gave this anymore thought than to laugh at it and make silly jokes to each other. As I showed George how to maneuver his boat there was a flash in the sky… Yes it was lightning. One might think that this would be our clue to get out of the river. Nope. Instead, we decided that staying close to the shore allowing the canopy of the overhanging trees to keep us perfectly safe. Now instead of paddling in the middle of the river and staying in the same vicinity, we were guiding our boats down river along the shoreline. It wasn’t long before the rain increased in intensity again. This time it was beginning to feel like an actual storm. The sky was getting angry with the rain falling hard and the wind beginning to blow. We decided that the best bet was to find a very covered area and allow the storm to blow past. We spotted a place close to the pump station for Motts Reservoir. Big overhanging tree and a shore line that we thought we could beach the boats on. We meandered to that spot. The rain fell faster and the wind blew harder. We began to make jokes about how foolish we were feeling. Like Gilligan at the beginning of his “three hour cruise” we had no way of knowing that things were about to get worse. As we sat in our boats making small talk and basically ignoring what was becoming a major storm, the boom, light and crack of a lightning bolt struck a tree on the other side of the river not more than a quarter mile away. This was our hint that getting off the river was the smartest thing that we could do. There is nothing graceful about exiting a floating kayak. My first leg out sank into calf high mud and water… Feeling very vulnerable I quickly got my other leg out and scrambled to what was a 2ft wide piece of muddy shore. We were “safely” tucked in close to the shore. There was a huge tree overhanging the river – we thought that under the circumstances we were as safe as we could be. (read: we weren’t the tallest object in the vicinity) I was tying my boat off to a root… George had gotten out of his boat and was looking for a spot to tie his when seemingly from nowhere a flash of light and crackling sound were between him and me. The bolt, yellow and white seemed to arch from the sky to a point under the canopy of the tree. Not ten feet away, I saw George in what appeared to be theatre lights get struck by this lightning bolt. Time stood still. I wanted to believe that the bolt had hit the ground between us or the tree above us, but as George fell in slow motion back into the river that the seriousness of the situation became clear. The look on his face was uncertainty and confusion. Still wearing his life vest he hit the water facing upward. The vest kept him afloat. As I was moving towards him, he opened his mouth to speak only it wasn’t words that came. As his mouth opened, smoke escaped in a scene that could only be repeated on a movie set. His eyes (and mine) grew large. His somber words came quickly after… “Dave… my insides are fried”. Based on what I had seen, I knew this to be true. Very quick discussions also showed that George couldnt feel his legs. I did not want to move him. I scrambled to my boat to get my phone from the drybag. Dialing frantically… there was no cell signal. Although we were in a civilized area, we were at a very low spot on River Road. In split second decision, I looked at George told him to stay calm and commanded him to keep breathing. I needed to get to higher ground if I was going to get him help. I left him. The shore was a 10 ft high section of rock and mud and poison ivy. I scrambled up the hill in a near panic slipping and falling, but knowing that I had only one job to do and that was to get my friend medical attention. The rain was still falling and wind blowing. Once off the river, I was out in the open. I was still dialing the phone.. 9-1-1… I barely had any signal at all. I was trying to stay low to the ground. I knew now just how easy it was to be struck and I would not be able to help anyone if I were to fall victim too. “911.. what is your emergency?” The voice came across the phone. Worried that I would lose my signal, I pushed information across the line, not exactly panicked but certainly not calmly– “lightning strike; River Road; between Motts Run and Pump station”…. Beep, beep, beep. I lost my signal. I did not know if I had gotten enough information out for them to find us. Knowing that this situation was bad, I headed back to check on George. As I had began my slide back down the hill I saw the red kayak that he had been holding was floating down the river. I knew that this meant that he had, in a very real sense, let go. Definitely panicked at this point, I flung myself down the hill, screaming his name.. “George!.. George!”…… I knew that the worst had happened. No one survives a lightning strike. What came next will stick with me forever… George responded. The most calm and commanding voice I have ever heard spoke back to my frantic yells… “Dave…. I'm ok. It’s not as bad as I thought”. There are no words to describe how I felt at that moment. Not only was he alive, he was getting better. He was able to tell me exactly what was wrong with him.. I grabbed him by the life vest and with the benefit of adrenaline pulled his large frame from the river and into a sitting position. The lighting had affected his right hip, leg and hand. The blast had literally blown his shorts to shreds. Rain still falling, wind blowing, he and I looked at each other in disbelief and now with some hope that this was going to have a happy ending. I was not yet calm, but definitely feeling better about the direction things were going, I left him a second time. With a sense of urgency, I pushed myself back up hill to try a second call to 911. Same result… half a message and then disconnected. I still had a job to do. Completely in the open air and with a new found respect for lightning I made a half crouch run out to River Road. It was only then that I realized that I was freezing cold, no shirt on and soaked to the bone. Unwilling to stand up straight in the storm, I knelt low on the side of the road and waived my arms frantically trying to stop any of the passing cars. I am certain that I looked more like a street urchin than someone trying to get help for a friend. Finally flagging down a car; The gentleman inside, an officer from the Rappahannock county jail, all business, asks “what’s the problem”? Our matter of fact exchange told me that I had finally found help and as he drove away to get a call to 911, I did my crouch run back to the river. George was improving even more. I looked at his shorts and all that they weren’t covering…. In what can only be called nervous humor, we immediately began making jokes….. “Oh my god, George it hit you in the… wait no it didn’t…” With the sound of sirens in the background, he replied in his best Seinfeld-ian accent… “I was in the pool!!!” Thats when I knew everything was going to be fine... This guy is unflappable. Alls well that ends well.