Lightning Strikes Surfer in Byron Bay

A 34-year-old male was struck by lightning while surfing at Suffolk Park near Byron Bay yesterday.

There was a Byron Bay Boardriders junior contest taking place 100m down the beach from the incident, but it was called off when organisers saw the extreme weather heading in. Around 30 kids were called out of the water moments before the strike occurred.

Paramedics were called to the scene at 10:30am where they found two foreign surfers performing CPR on the man.

Local surfer Kyle Brownie was on the way to the beach when he heard thunder.

Paramedics and surfers transport the man to the ambulance. Photo: Channel 7.

“I went to the beach with three friends for a surf,” he told the Gold Coast Bulletin. “When we got there we saw three boards just floating near the shore. Then we saw the guys doing CPR and realised that he must have been hit by lightning.”

The man remains in a critical condition in the Tweed hospital, and paramedic Glenn Eady praised the reactions of the surfers who performed CPR.

“If it wasn’t for the action of the fellow surfers in the water, who sheltered themselves and performed CPR, it might have been a different story,” he told Network Seven.

Thunder storms in the surf are an awesome spectacle, but seeing that saltwater conducts electricity, they’re worth avoiding. For a stretch of coastline that boasts playful points and beachbreaks, the Byron region sure has seen its share of accidents this year (if you count shark attacks as accidents). How this latest event will affect the already lessening crowds in the surf is yet to be seen.

Here’s hoping the victim makes a full recovery.