Florida Lightning Strike Kills 20-Year-Old Disney College Program Intern

Q: Why did bystanders initially believe a building was struck before discovering the young Disney intern unresponsive on the path?

They thought a nearby building or hotel had been hit because the lightning strike sounded extremely close and overhead, producing what witnesses described as a loud, powerful crack of thunder. In that moment, bystanders assumed the strike had hit a structure rather than a person on the walking path behind it. Witness accounts support that. One nearby man said he expected the lightning had struck “the building or something like that” or the hotel, not a person. Only after the flash and thunder did people notice Matthew Jenkins had collapsed on the path, prompting Felipe Costa and another woman to run over and begin CPR. The incident reflects how lightning injuries can be hard to recognize immediately. A strike nearby may not leave an obvious visual sign on a person, and in a storm people often look first to tall, visible objects such as buildings as the likely point of impact. Investigators later said lightning had struck in the area, and subsequent reporting said the medical examiner confirmed Jenkins died from electrocution caused by a lightning strike.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 10

Matthew Eric Jenkins, 20, was found unresponsive Tuesday evening on a walking path behind a Celebration hotel and was pronounced dead at AdventHealth Celebration.
Deputies were called around 6:25 p.m. to the 700 block of Bloom Street, where investigators said lightning had struck nearby and are awaiting the medical examiner’s official cause-of-death ruling.
Witnesses told local media they heard a powerful crack of lightning, and one bystander said he ran to the path and found Jenkins on the ground as another woman began CPR before first responders arrived.
Jenkins had moved from Shelby Township, Michigan, to Central Florida last week to begin the Disney College Program at Walt Disney World, his father said.