Lightning hits Qns. 3

Two are still in hospital after zaps in boro parks

A mean Queens storm left three men struck by lightning on Tuesday, and a day later two of them were still reeling as they recovered in the hospital.

One of the victims, Geovanny Astudillo, was being awakened slowly by doctors at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx a day after a bolt of lightning knocked him off his feet in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park near the Queens Zoo.

Astudillo, 30, fell facefirst in the park where he was playing soccer with friends just before 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday when the storm rolled through — and didn’t know what hit him, his buddy said Wednesday.

“He fell flat on his face,” said a friend who did not want to be identified. “He was knocked out cold.”

The friend said doctors were slowly awakening Astudillo to avoid alarming him.

“He’s trying to open his eyes on his own,” the friend said. “He basically doesn’t know where he is right now. Last time he was awake, he was playing soccer so the doctors say he might try to pull things apart when he wakes up.”

Astudillo, a glazier, moved to Queens from Ecuador several years ago. The friend said his family is mostly concerned with keeping his mom, who still lives in Ecuador, calm.

Patricio Leon, 34, was on the field with Astudillo when the lightning struck.

“All of sudden it was like, boom!” he said, his eyes red. “I’m just very sad for my friend.”

The storm caught many off guard when it moved into the Queens area shortly after 6 p.m. Earlier Tuesday,

meteorologists predicted a routine shower and possible thunderstorm.

But the National Weather Service later issued a severe thunderstorm warning as radar data showed the storm that was brewing was far more threatening and could include large hail, punishing winds and intense lightning on the horizon.

A second victim, Cusi Segundo, 42, was also struck by lightning in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

He was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital Center, where his wife told The News on Wednesday that he was progressing.

"He's doing OK,” she said. “He doesn't want to talk."

A third man, Kareem Graham, 33, was struck in Baisley Pond Park in Queens.

"He was escorting an elderly person to the bus,” said Vishnu Dat, Graham's father-in-law. “He had one hand on the bus and one hand on the person."

Graham was fortunate and suffered only partial numbness in his arm and back.

On Wednesday, he was back at work as a customs agent at Kennedy Airport.

The majority of those hit by lightning survive, but many struggle with lifelong ailments such as severe headaches, sudden voice changes and momentary loss of memory.

Doctors treat their immediate needs but have never come up with a long-term health plan. That's largely due to a lack of research, as there are relatively few victims.

All told, there were 313 people struck and killed by lightning in the U.S. between 2006 and 2015, according to data from the National Weather Service. The overwhelming majority, 247, were men, the data shows.