Lightning kills boy, 4, during family reunion
Storm hit farm in Kentucky on Saturday afternoon
By Rob Modic
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CARLISLE, Ky. | A lightning strike killed a 4-year-old Dayton boy during a family reunion Saturday on a farm about 7 miles northeast of here, authorities said.
Nicholas McConnaughey, son of Kathy Wampler, was pronounced dead at 2:31 p.m. Saturday at Nicholas County Hospital, deputy county coroner Brent Gaunce said.
Nicholas’ fifth birthday would have been Thursday, Gaunce said. He and his mother live on a street near Nordale Park and Twin Valley Behavioral Health Care.
The boy was alone and standing about 4 feet from a large tree on the farm when a storm suddenly blew through the area, Gaunce said.
“Nobody actually witnessed it,” Gaunce said. “But there was a lot of bark missing from the tree, and that’s what we think happened.”
Gaunce said the boy, found near the tree, was not burned by the strike.
Gaunce said a family member, who is an emergency room nurse from the Dayton area, tried to resuscitate the boy before an emergency response team arrived.
A trooper with the Dry Ridge Post of the Kentucky State Police put the time of the strike at 1:45 p.m., but Gaunce estimated it closer to 1:30 p.m.
The trooper said the farm was off U.S. 68 northeast of Carlisle. Gaunce estimated it was about 7 miles from the city. Nicholas County’s population was 6,813 in 2000.
[From the Dayton Daily News: 06.15.2003]
ORIGIN: https://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/0615lightning.html
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