Lightning Strike Kills 23-Year-Old Brazilian Surf Champ

2018 Brazilian national champ Luzimara Souza was killed this week when a lightning bolt struck her while she was surfing. She was in the water at Leste-Oeste beach in Fortaleza on Wednesday when the incident occurred.

A local business person reportedly attempted to rescue her immediately after the lightning strike. 

“I came here the moment our professional athlete received the electric shock on her,” the businessperson told Diario do Nordeste. “She received the shock and I was able to rescue her. She was then taken to the hospital.”

Efforts to revive Souza were unsuccessful.

“She usually surfed there, so she went there to surf and then it started raining,” Souza’s mother explained to the media.

There were a handful of surfers in the water at the time. One was also reportedly hit by lightning and is in serious condition.

“I went in the sea to get him and I took him to the firemen. I left there and he was conscious,” continued the businessperson’s statement.

A stand-out Fortaleza surfer, 23-year-old Souza was preparing for the upcoming Brazilian Surfing Championship at the beginning of April at the time of the accident. She was the 2018 state and national champion.

Our thoughts go out to her family and friends.