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Lightning struck; he lived

August 1, 2009 12:36 am

BY JONAS BEALS

After being struck by lightning, Stafford resident George Judd, 45, exhaled a cloud of smoke.

Then he turned to his kayaking partner, Dave Honaker.

"I'm fried inside," Judd told him.

"It was funny," Judd said of his short-lived moment of panic. "After that, I was extremely calm. I took stock of how I was."

He could still talk, but the bolt had knocked him into the Rappahannock River and temporarily paralyzed his right arm and both legs. Judd remained conscious throughout the entire episode.

"I saw a white streak that looked to be about a foot wide. I felt the surge going on. I saw my buddy through this sort of foggy lens," he said.

The strike vaporized his shorts, leaving nothing but the melted waistband.

SHOT THROUGH THE HIP

At approximately 7 p.m. July 1, lightning entered Judd's body via his right hip, leaving two holes in his flesh. Blisters on his feet and right hand suggest the electricity left through those extremities.

At the time, he was on the banks of the Rappahannock, trying to climb out of knee-deep mud to find shelter from worsening weather. One hand was on the bank, the other was holding onto his 15-foot sea kayak.

"We really did everything right," Judd said. "We checked the weather. We stayed close to the bank. When the weather got bad, we decided to go for cover and get out of the boats."

It was Judd's first time in a kayak--Honaker was teaching him how to paddle. Both men wore personal flotation devices and kept an eye on each other.

"I'm a big backpacker and I usually go solo," Judd said. "It's taught me a lesson. I never really considered lightning as a possibility. It really opened my eyes."

He may also reconsider his solo ways, considering the benefits of the buddy system.

Honaker was able to drag Judd up the bank by his life jacket. With Judd's permission, Honaker left the river to call for help on his cell phone and try to flag down a car on River Road.

Meanwhile, Judd was slipping down the bank into the water. With only one working arm, he managed to pull himself up the bank, wedging his feet against tree roots. He would regain feeling in his limbs only to realize he had sprained his wrist and both ankles in the process.

"That was actually the most miserable piece of it," he said.

He wasn't talking about the sprains.

Turns out, he had been struggling through a poison ivy patch.

DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE

Judd didn't know it at the time, but at 7:06 p.m., his wife, Debbie, sent him a text message to ask if he was OK. She was at their home in the Ferry Farm area, and just had a feeling something was wrong.

Honaker had a similar feeling when he returned to the river and saw Judd's empty kayak floating downstream.

"I thought he had died on me," Honaker said. "I shouted his name. What came back was the most calm, commanding voice I'd ever heard. 'Dave, I'm all right,' he said."

By the time emergency crews from Spotsylvania and Fredericksburg arrived, Judd had regained some feeling in his legs and was able to walk up the bank to the rescuers.

He was transported to Mary Washington Hospital. His vital signs were strong, but he had first-, second- and third-degree burns. Doctors sent him to VCU Medical Center in Richmond for monitoring.

Nurses and doctors were impressed by Judd's physical condition.

"They said that was why I was healing so fast, and why my heart didn't stop," Judd said. "It pays to have good friends and family and to stay fit. That doesn't keep you from getting poison ivy, though."

For Honaker, Judd's survival was the result of more than his health.

"You have to attribute it to who George is," he said. "His physical shape is one thing. What I saw was a mental capability--an ability to manage what was happening."

After two days at the hospital, Judd went home for the July Fourth weekend. He returned to work as director of an information technology firm that Monday.

Judd heaped praise on all the people who helped him through his ordeal. He was shocked by the most improbable of accidents and lived to tell the tale. Honaker hopes their experience can help others.

"We felt we were doing the right thing," he said. "We decided the weather had moved past us. We hadn't counted on the fact that storms can pop up quickly.

"I was literally disrespecting the storm. There are ways to prepare without being freaked out. What I saw in George was a logical assessment of the situation. On any outing, I think the lesson is to prepare ahead of time. What would you do if something went wrong? Even a casual outing needs that type of preparation."

Being prepared beats being paralyzed with fear, he added.

"It never would have happened if we were the type of people who just stay on our couches."

To prove the point, Judd flew to Idaho two weeks later. He spent a week camping in the mountains with his father.

Jonas Beals: 540/368-5036
Email: jbeals@freelancestar.com