Lightning Strike Leaves Father of 2 in Coma
Landscaper Gutiberto Matias was hit by a lightning bolt
Updated 8:01 AM PST, Fri, Jun 5, 2009
An Oceanside father of two young children remained in a coma and clinging to life Thursday night, one day after he and his brother were struck by lightning in San Marcos, their niece told the North County Times.
Gutiberto Matias, 31, is in the intensive care unit at Palomar Medical Center.
"There's hope, but the outcome doesn't look good," said niece Maria Baltazar by phone from the hospital, where Gutiberto Matias' wife, 4-year-old daughter and 18-month-old son gathered with other family members for a second day. "His brain is swollen," she added. "His heart stopped beating (on Wednesday). His lungs aren't working well."
Gutiberto Matias, a landscaper and longtime Oceanside resident, was hit by a lightning bolt about 2 p.m. as he stood next to a palm tree in the yard of a house on Camden Place in San Marcos, San Marcos fire Battalion Chief Rick Vogt said.
First Published: Jun 5, 2009 7:47 AM PST
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