Woman who was struck by lightning two weeks ago dies

Police: It appears 20-year-old took a direct hit and then fell off the roof of two-story building

A woman who was among six people doing a roofing job in Wellington when lightning struck has died, the Palm Beach County Sheriff ’s Office said Sunday.

Romelia Ramirez, 20, died Friday, officials said.

The lightning strike happened about 3 p.m. July 20 on the roof in a townhome community at 1604 Shaker Circle.

Ramirez was on the roof, near an air-conditioning unit, next to five male co-workers when the lightning struck. It appeared Ramirez “took a direct hit,” and then fell off the roof of the twostory building, the sheriff ’s office said at the time.

One of the men with Ramirez fell and struck his head while leaving the roof on a ladder. He was treated for head injuries.

None of the other four workers were seriously hurt.

They were all employed by Plantation-based Greenwise Construction and Roofing, the Palm Beach Post reported.

The death of Ramirez was Florida’s third lightning-related fatality this year, according to the National Lightning Safety Council. In June, a 45-year-old motorcyclist in Volusia County died when lightning struck his helmet. And in July, a man, 32, died three days after he and seven other people were injured by lightning on Clearwater Beach.

So far in 2019 there have been 12 lightning-related deaths across the country, according to the council.

In addition to Florida’s lightning fatalities, a Pompano Beach man has been fighting for his life since he was struck by lightning earlier this month.

On Aug. 4, Nick Williams, 28, was in his wheelchair near a tree when lightning struck. He was initially taken to North Broward Medical Center and later transferred to the Burn Unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center in Miami.

According to an update posted Sunday on a GoFundMe page which has so far raised more than $20,000 to aid his recovery, a trauma surgeon said she was “optimistic” about Williams who, though still sedated, has been showing “moments of consciousness.”