A McArthur High School Student died from a lightning strike in Pembroke Pines, a Broward County medical examiner has confirmed two months after his death.
Cameron Day, 16, was riding his bike home from band practice in the 600 block of Southwest 67th Avenue in Pembroke Pines just before 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 18, through the rain and lightning, the medical examiner’s investigation report said. A man who lives in that area said he saw a flash of lightning followed by thunder and looked out his window to see the boy lying on the ground.
Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue saw when they arrived that Cameron, who was not breathing, had burns on his chest and legs, the report said. They attempted CPR as they took him to Memorial Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The autopsy report released Tuesday, signed by an associate medical examiner Nov. 18, confirmed Cameron’s cause of death was a lightning strike. The report said his neck, chest and thigh area had been burned.
Cameron’s mother told an investigator that she had talked to her son about 4 p.m. that day, and an hour-and-a-half later, Memorial Regional Hospital staff called her to tell her he was in the emergency room, the investigation report said.
Cameron played tuba in the high school band, was a member of the student government and was an ambassador of Florida Atlantic University’s Upward Bound Math and Science program, his parents said in a written statement shared with the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He was the youngest of their four children, a boy who his parents said “beat the odds,” having been diagnosed with autism when he was 4 years old.
“His death and the way he died is unfathomable,” their statement said.
At least 11 people have died nationwide from lightning strikes in 2024, according to National Weather Service data, with five of them occurring in Florida. A 19-year-old man was struck by lightning in June while running under a tree in Davie.