Man struck by lightning remains in critical condition
POMPANO BEACH – No one is sure exactly how Nick Williams came to be struck by lightning in his wheelchair.
But this much is certain. Family and friends are rallying around. In fact, so many people are visiting the hospital where Williams, 28, is in a coma that only two visitors at a time are allowed.
And for all of them, waiting and hoping, it is eerily, tragically familiar.
In 2008, Williams was a promising volleyball athlete at Cardinal Gibbons High School. Then, a car crash left him paralyzed. While he inched toward a recovery, there was a line out the hospital waiting room for visitor’s badges.
Just like now.
On Tuesday, his mother and fi
OPEN SUNDAYS 8:30AM - 2PM ancee were by his bedside at Jackson Memorial, waiting for him to wake up.
Mom Donna Pappas said he has “tremendous spirit and will and strength.”
On Sunday, a neighbor found Williams in his Pompano Beach yard after being struck by lightning. Family and friends think Williams could have been in the middle of his everyday workout — a 5-mile trek around the neighborhood — and he wasn’t able to get inside when the storm hit.
He had to be resuscitated by paramedics and was taken to North Broward Medical and transferred to the Ryder Trauma Center Burn Unit at Jackson Memorial, where he remained in critical condition Tuesday.
Fiancee Netter went to Cardinal Gibbons too. She had heard about Williams’ accident but had never spoken with him. Then she saw him volunteering at Pompano Beach’s St. Coleman Italian Festival. MON-SAT 8:30-5:00 • SUN 8:30AM-2PM