Lightning strike survivor returning home after he ‘beat the odds’ again

“I want to get him back to where he was. I know it’s a long road and it’s going to take time. We’re here for the ride.”

Emily Netter, fiancee of Nick Williams

Nick Williams was struck by lightning in August, 11 years after being paralyzed in a car crash. When he leaves Jackson Memorial Hospital on Thursday, he and his family will just be thinking of him as one lucky guy.

“What I considered is we have been told twice in our lifetime about Nicholas, ‘It doesn’t look good,’ ” said Donna Pappas, mother of the one-time Cardinal Gibbons High volleyball athlete. “Both times he has been blessed and beat the odds.”

Williams, 28, was alone in his wheelchair Aug. 4 near a tree at his Pompano Beach home when lightning struck him and set his chair on fire. A neighbor saw the sparks from her window, called 911 and rushed to get him out of the chair.

Williams had a heart attack during transport and it took paramedics four minutes to resuscitate him, family members said.

The paramedics took him to North Broward Medical and then Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, where he was in a coma for a week.

Since then, his family and fiancee have been on a roller coaster of emotions as progress was met with setbacks, improvements followed by returns to Intensive Care Units.

“I thought I was going to lose the man that I love,” said his fiancee, Emily Netter. “I thought that, but I also knew that he was going to pull through. I had those two emotions playing with each other.”

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“He suffered all kinds of complications. He’s been all over the hospital,” Pappas said. “He suffered pneumonia a couple of times and ended up in medical ICU. He’s been in the burn center.”

Now, 95 days later, Williams is able to go home. The planned December wedding has been put off so he can focus on his continuing rehabilitation. Williams is ready for the challenge ahead.

“I really am looking forward to going home and sleeping in my own bed, showering in my own bathroom,” Williams said. “The roughest part was just being stuck here,” he said, although he’s quick to add he has nothing but praise for the hospital staff who cared for him. No doubt they understand.

Netter said her fiance also can’t wait for a trip to Bonefish Mac’s in Lighthouse Point, his favorite

atraumatic time for everyone. restaurant.

Williams remembered the lightning strike after being told about it from others. He has already started working to put the event into perspective.

“The damage from the lightning wasn’t as severe as the car accident. It didn’t take me more than five minutes to realize I got struck by lightning,” he said.

“I learned from my accident. There were some negative days back then. We have control over how we feel in the circumstance,” Williams said. “Once I realized that, it didn’t matter what the circumstances were, I was able to cope with or deal with whatever they were in a positive way.”

Before the lightning strike, Williams maintained an active schedule, taking regular 5-mile treks around his neighborhood and playing wheelchair tennis, sometimes traveling to tournaments and championships.

Netter said the goal now is a full recovery.

“I want to get him back to where he was. I know it’s a long road and it’s going to take time. We’re here for the ride,” she said.