Lightning Strike Victim in ‘Really Bad Condition'

Landscaper Gutiberto Matias was hit by a lightning bolt

An Oceanside landscaper remained in a coma Monday, five days after he and his brother were struck by lightning in San Marcos, according to the North County Times.

Gutiberto Matias, 31, is in the intensive care unit at Palomar Medical Center where doctors have told family that he has pneumonia and a recurring fever.

"His brain is swollen," his niece Maria Baltazar said by phone Thursday. "His heart stopped beating (on Wednesday). His lungs aren't working well."

Matias' wife, 4-year-old daughter Brisa and 18-month-old son Brian have been hoping for good news, the paper reported.

Matias was hit by a lightning bolt about 2 p.m. on June 3 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.

He is the youngest of four brothers who all work for a local landscaping company, identified by Baltazar as Dave's Landscaping.

Read more about his condition in the full article in the North County Times. 

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